LONDON: India were knocked out of the Women’s T20 World Cup after Australias Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner struck half-centuries to secure a six-wicket win at Lord’s on Sunday.
Australia maintained their flawless record in the group stage, winning all five matches to finish top and advance to the semi-finals, chasing down India’s target of 171 with an over to spare.
India had entered the match needing a victory to progress after South Africa boosted their own qualification chances with a four-wicket win over Bangladesh in a low-scoring game.
Australia suffered an early setback when opener Georgia Voll fell to the second ball of the chase, but Perry and Gardner steadied the innings with a 100-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Perry made 56 off 38 deliveries before being dismissed by Shree Charani, while Gardner remained unbeaten on 53 from 29 balls to guide the chase home.
India had posted 170 for four, powered by captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s blistering 56 off 27 balls, including three sixes and six fours. Openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma provided a solid platform with a 66-run stand, but the middle order struggled to maintain momentum.
Jemimah Rodrigues scored 34 off 28 balls before being retired out in the closing stages, and Harmanpreet accelerated to lift India to their highest total against Australia in a T20 World Cup match, though it proved insufficient.
South Africa, meanwhile, had a nervous outing against Bangladesh. The Proteas just about retained their composure in pursuit of a lowly target of 118.
They will now play unbeaten tournament hosts England in the semi-finals.
Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt fell to the first ball of the chase, bowled by a Marufa Aktar in-swinger and when Dane van Niekerk was lbw for three, South Africa were 59-3 at the halfway stage.
Annerie Dercksen threatened to win the game for South Africa until she edged behind for 45 in the 15th over. The runs then started to dry up.
Marizanne Kapp was run out for 16 and Nadine de Klerk was caught at deep mid-wicket with five runs still needed before Chloe Tryon edged a four and cleared the off-side to seeal win with four balls to spare.
Late on Saturday, defending champions New Zealand were eliminated after suffering a nine-wicket defeat by England.
Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2026