CAPETOWN: India suffered a five-run loss to Australia in the semifinal of the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup on Thursday, despite top knocks from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues.
Australia will now play either England or South Africa in the finals.
Chasing 173, India had a dismal start as they were 28/3 after 3.4 overs with Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Yastika Bhatia back in the pavilion. Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur began the rescue mission and stitched together a crucial partnership.Jemimah was dismissed with the score at 97 with a good chunk of the chase remaining. Harmanpreet Kaur scored a vital half-century and looked like the player determined to take India over the line.
Australia got the much-needed break when Harmanpreet Kaur was run-out in an unfortunate manner. Deepti Sharma was joined by Richa and India needed 39 in the final five overs.
Australia got another big wicket of in-form Richa for 14 with India in need of 38 in the final four overs.
At the end of 17 overs, India was 142/6, needing 31 in the final three overs. In the final two overs, India needed 20 runs.
In the final over, India needed 16 but failed to chase the target, finishing at 167/8 in 20 overs.