Cape Town: Australia beat India in Women’s Twenty20 World Cup final. Indian women lost by five runs. Chasing the target of 173 runs set by Australia, India’s innings ended at 167 runs with the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemima Rodrigues were the highlights of the Indian batting line-up with half-centuries. India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who was certain of victory at one stage, ended the game with an unexpected run-out for the Aussie women. Needing 16 runs to win in the last over, India managed to score only 10 runs.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Australia scored 172 runs for the loss of four wickets. Opener Beth Mooney scored a half-century (54 off 37 balls), captain Meg Lanning (49 off 34 balls) and Ashley Gardener (31 off 18 balls) with the batting excellence of Australia. Openers Alyssa Healy (25 off 25 balls) and Mooney added 52 runs for the first wicket. Mooney and Lanning added 89 runs for the second wicket. Shikha Pandey took two wickets, Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav took one wicket each for India.

In reply, opener Smriti Manthana (2 off 5 balls), Shefali Verma (9 off 6 balls) and Yastika Bhatia (4 off 7 balls) were out without much contribution. But Jemima Rodrigues and captain Harmanpreet Kaur combined for the fourth wicket and brought India back into the match. The partnership added 69 runs and put the Aussies on the defensive. Jemima, who scored 43 runs from 24 balls including six boundaries, got out in the 11th over and the Aussie women came back into the game again.

Captain Harmanpreet took the score forward but carelessness in the 15th over took the captain’s wicket. The captain ran out for the second run. Richa Ghosh also returned with 14 runs off 17 balls to end India’s hopes. Deepti Sharma remained unbeaten on 20 off 17 balls. Despite losing, the Indian women who shook Australia, the giants of women’s cricket, can come back with their heads held high.