India suffered a nine-run defeat at the hands of defending champions Australia in match No. 18 of the ongoing ICC Women's World Cup at Sharjah Cricket Ground in Sharjah on Sunday, October 13. (Match Blog | Scorecard | Full Coverage)
Australia won the toss and opted to bat first earlier on, but lost Beth Mooney and Georgia Wareham under three overs.
However, stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris stitched a recovery partnership to get back back on track.
Ellyse Perry's 32 at No.5 helped Australia post 151 in their 20-over quota. Coming to the chase, Sophie Moineux removed Smriti Mandhana early for just six, while Megan Schutt send Jemimah Rodrigues packing for 16.
India yet again were overdependent on Harmanpreet Kaur as the skipper's unbeaten 54 alongside Deepti Sharma's 29 was just not sufficient to take their side home.
Australia have now won four out of their four fixtures and qualified for the semis, while India rest their destiny on the Pakistan-New Zealand game.
Earlier on in the day, Australia women's stand-in captain Tahila McGrath won the toss and opted to bat first against India in this Group A fixture of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
Check Playing XIs:
India Women (Playing XI): Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh
Australia Women (Playing XI): Beth Mooney(w), Grace Harris, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath(c), Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown.
