shares
India women 167 for 8 (Mandhana 83, Kaur 43, Perry 3-16, Gardner 2-25) beat Australia women 119 (Perry 39*, Patil 3-15, Radha 2-13) by 48 runs
India’s spinners choked out a weakened Australian line-up with relentless accuracy to send them crashing to 119 all out, and a 48-run defeat in their final Group B game at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. The win meant India finished atop the Group B table, with wins in each of their four games. They will now await the result of West Indies v England on Sunday, with the loser facing India, while the winner takes on Australia in the semifinals.
The win was set up by Smriti Mandhana, whose belligerent 83 hauled India to a competitive 167, despite the loss of eight wickets, after they had elected to bat. Known for her free-willed strokemaking, Mandhana capitalised on some erratic bowling from Australia at the start to set the foundation for a winning score.
Australia were hit hard by an injury to Alyssa Healy, their wicketkeeper and the player of the match in their last three encounters. Healy was involved in a nasty collision with Megan Schutt, as both bowler and keeper went for a catch in the 19th over of the Indian innings. Healy seemed to cop a hard blow around her left shoulder as Schutt crashed into her before spilling the catch. Healy went down immediately upon impact and was taken off the field, handing over the gloves to Beth Mooney. It was subsequently revealed that the wicketkeeper-batsman had suffered a mild concussion and wouldn’t take part in the chase.
Full report to follow
Akshay Gopalakrishnan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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