Women's World Cup: Australia defeats India by 6 wickets to qualify for the semi-finals

 

India fought but Aussie were composed 

Australia chose to bowl first after winning the toss. Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma fell early to the Australian bowler Darcie Brown as India lost 2 wickets for just 28 runs. Indian skipper Mithali Raj and Yastika Bhatia tailored a responsible 130-run partnership in 154 balls, but lost their wickets at crucial times. Harmanpreet Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar again had to reset the batting as wickets had fallen at the wrong time to help India reach a respectable total to defend. While Yastika Bhatia and Mithali Raj got out at 59 and 68, respectively, Harmanpreet Kaur remained not out at 57,looking at the team collapse from the other end haplessly. Though India somehow managed to put a target of 278, this wasn't enough on the ground  having short boundaries. 

Indian skipper, Mithali Raj said, "When you lose you always feel you are 10-15 runs short. The way Australia started the innings was always ahead of the asking rate. The fielders couldn't back up the bowlers. The batting is something we wanted to improve, and we did. We need to do well in all departments in the remaining games. The next two games are must-win. Thanks to all the Indians who came here to support the girls. She (Jhulan) brings in a lot of experience. Incredible for a fast bowler to play 200 games for the country, takes a lot of discipline. She is a role model for many players and young girls back in India."

This was also Jhulan Goswami’s 200th One Day International match.

Attacking game plan for Australia

Australia began their innings with complete control and dominance as openers Rachael Haynes and Alyssa Healy looked to get big innings and constructed a strong foundation of 121 runs in only 117 balls. While Alyssa Healy got a rapid fifty, Rachael Haynes fell short of 7 runs short of her well-deserved half century. Meg Lanning played a stupendous inning of 97 runs, making a significant contribution to the chase in just 107 balls, with support from Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney from the other end. This clinical approach was something where India lagged. Australia never gave a single moment in the game to for India take control. The ball wasn't gripping enough for the Indian spinners to trouble the Aussies like they did against West Indies. Australia kept dominating the Indian bowlers with frequent boundaries, creating gaps and rotating strikes. Indian bowlers, however, tried bowling tight length which kept the match interesting but couldn't take wickets to put pressure on Australian batters.

Rain made the game thrilling towards the end.

A short rain break interrupted the play,but it failed to stop Australian batters from hitting boundaries. With this loss, India stands 4th in the points table and needs to win both of their upcoming matches, against Bangladesh and South Africa to be in the race for the semi-finals. Australia,on the other hand, made it five in five to secure their place in the semi-finals.