Australia knock India out of Women's T20 World Cup, storm into semi-finals

Australia booked their place in the semi-finals of the Women's T20 World Cup with a commanding six-wicket victory over India at Lord's on Sunday, ending India's hopes of winning a maiden T20 World Cup title, 24NewsHD TV reported on Sunday.

The five-time champions maintained a perfect record in the group stage, winning all five matches to finish at the top of their group.

Australia successfully chased down India's challenging target of 171 with an over to spare.

India entered the must-win clash needing victory to reach the semi-finals after South Africa strengthened their qualification hopes with a four-wicket win over Bangladesh earlier in the day.

Australia's chase got off to a shaky start when opener Georgia Voll was dismissed off the second ball.

However, Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner turned the match around with a match-winning 100-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Perry struck 56 from 38 balls before falling to Shree Charani, while Gardner remained unbeaten on a quickfire 53 off just 29 deliveries to guide Australia home.

"We got to see how India batted and knew it was a good wicket. We just needed a good partnership," Player of the Match Perry said after the victory.

"Hopefully, there are two more big games to go, but our focus is on the semi-final first," she added.

Earlier, India posted 170-4, their highest total against Australia in a Women's T20 World Cup match, thanks largely to captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who smashed 56 off just 27 balls, including six fours and three sixes.

Openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma laid a solid foundation with a 66-run opening partnership, while Jemimah Rodrigues contributed 34 before retiring out in the closing stages.

Despite the strong total, India's bowlers were unable to stop Australia's powerful batting line-up.

The defeat also marked India's second consecutive group-stage exit from the Women's T20 World Cup after failing to reach the semi-finals in the 2024 edition.

Meanwhile, defending champions New Zealand were eliminated on Saturday after a nine-wicket loss to England.

Australia will now face the West Indies in the first semi-final on Tuesday. The second semi-final will be played between England and South Africa on July 5.