Steely Aussies hold off India in another WC classic

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Australia have held their nerve in a thrilling nine-run win over India to seal top spot in their group and a T20 World Cup semi-final berth.

With captain Alyssa Healy out injured, Australia’s stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath and deputy Ellyse Perry led their team to 8-151 in front of a sold-out crowd of 14,946 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The vast majority of those fans were wearing blue, and they rode every wave of India’s chase, which stalled after the loss of their top three in the first 6.5 overs, only to be reignited as Harmanpreet Kaur (54no from 47) stormed home with a 44-ball half-century.

Like so many blockbuster matches between these fierce foes, it came down to a battle of Australia v Harmanpreet.

From a precarious position needing 53 runs from the final five overs, Harmanpreet smacked 25 from the next 14 balls she faced to reduce that margin significantly, aided by Deepti Sharma’s 29 from 25.

A clutch 17th over from Megan Schutt, that went for a single run and included the brilliant direct hit run out of Richa Ghosh from the arm of Phoebe Litchfield, briefly stemmed the tide, before India’s skipper struck three more boundaries to leave 14 runs required from the last.

McGrath threw Annabel Sutherland – who had celebrated her 23rd birthday a day earlier – the ball, and she duly produced a poised final over beyond her years.

Harmanpreet couldn’t clear the inner ring first ball, and found herself off strike, then Sutherland bowled Pooja Vastrakar with her next.

Arundhati Reddy was run out getting her captain back on strike, but when Harmanpreet could only manage another single, Sutherland closed out another thrilling win for Australia over India.

It leaves India’s fate in the tournament hanging in the balance, needing Pakistan to upset New Zealand on Monday night (1am Tuesday AEDT).

Australia meanwhile have completed an undefeated group stage, but will still need to wait for the final two round games to find out which semi-final they will feature in, and who they will face.

Harmanpreet had arrived at the crease in the sixth over of India’s chase after the dismissals of Shafali Verma, caught for a 13-ball 20 off the bowling of Ashleigh Gardner (1-32), and Smriti Mandhana (6 from 12), trapped lbw by Sophie Molineux (2-32).

When Schutt removed Jemimah Rodrigues (16 from 12), Harmanpreet was joined by Deepti Sharma, and the pair’s 63-run fourth-wicket stand kept India in the game.

But with the required run rate creeping towards 11 an over, something had to give and the India pair hit the accelerator, setting the stage for another India-Australia classic finish.  

Earlier, Australia had kept the details of Alyssa Healy’s fitness under wraps in the 24 hours leading into the match after she was forced to retire hurt during Friday’s win over Pakistan.

But it became clear she would not be taking part in Sunday’s game when she hopped into Sharjah Cricket Stadium on crutches, with her foot in a boot.

News came through from the Australian camp shortly after that she would indeed sit out with an unspecified foot injury, but that hope remained she could yet return for the finals, with the wicketkeeper-opener to be assessed during the week.

That left Tahlia McGrath to lead her country for the second time in T20Is, while Beth Mooney took the gloves and Grace Harris assumed the role of opener alongside Mooney.

After McGrath elected to bat, the injury drama continued, this time when India leg-spinner Asha Sobhana twisted her knee during the warm-up, and was replaced in India’s XI – with Australia’s approval – by Radha Yadav.

Australia found themselves in early trouble when Mooney was well caught by Radha at backward point off the bowling of Renuka Singh in the third over, and the promotion of Georgia Wareham to No.3 failed to pay off when she was trapped lbw next ball.

Ball tracking suggested Wareham could have overturned the decision had she chosen to review, but instead it was left to Harris and McGrath to rebuild.

The pair steadied to see Australia to 2-32 at the end of the Powerplay, before McGrath in particular started to accelerate, striking four boundaries.

Their 62-run stand ended in the 12th over when McGrath, advancing down the pitch looking for a second boundary from the Radha over, was instead stumped, then Harris holed out shortly after to leave Australia 4-92.

But Perry settled quickly and kept the scoreboard ticking over, hitting two fours and a towering six, while Litchfield (15no from nine) dispatched Shreyanka Patil over the boundary final ball of the innings to lift the total above 150.

As the top-ranked Group A qualifier, Australia should meet the second-ranked Group B finisher at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday (1am Friday AEDT).

But if New Zealand lose to Pakistan on Monday, and India sneak into the semi-finals as the second-ranked finisher in Group A, Harmanpreet's team will instead feature in that first semi-final in Dubai – a quirk of the playing conditions.

In that case, Australia will play in Friday’s second semi-final in Sharjah (1am Saturday AEDT).

2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

Australia's Group A fixtures

October 5: beat Sri Lanka by six wickets

October 8: beat New Zealand by 60 runs

October 11: beat Pakistan by nine wickets

October 13: beat India by nine runs

Finals

October 17: Semi-final 1, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 18 AEDT

October 18: Semi-final 2, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 19 AEDT

October 20: Final, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 21 AEDT

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