London: India crashed out of the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup after a six-wicket loss to Australia in the final Group A match at Lord’s on Sunday, with South Africa joining the unbeaten Australians in the semi-finals.
Chasing a challenging target of 171, Australia reached the target in the 19th over with 4 wickets down, thanks to half-centuries from Ellyse Perry and Ashley Gardner.
Perry scored 56 off 38 balls with 8 fours while Gardner remained unbeaten on 53 off 29 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes.
Phoebe Litchfield scored a valuable 24 off 25 balls including 2 fours and 2 sixes, while wicketkeeper-batsman Beth Mooney scored 22 off 20 balls with the help of 2 fours.
Sri Sarani was India’s successful bowler with 2/32 from her four overs, while Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma picked up a wicket each.
Earlier, India scored 170-4 in the allotted 20 overs, led by captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s excellent batting.
Openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma added 66 runs for the opening wicket as the runs flowed freely and gave India a strong start.
The partnership came to an end when Sophie Molyneux dismissed Verma for a blistering 34 off 26 balls with three fours and two sixes.
Mandhana was run out on 38 off 37 balls including 6 fours, while Jemima Rodriguez retired on 34 off 28 balls with a four and a six.
Kaur then produced a brilliant innings, scoring a top score of 56 off 27 balls, with 6 fours and 3 sixes in an innings.
Molyneux was Australia’s only wicket-taker, finishing with figures of 2/46 from his four overs.