The Invincibles

Providence, November 17 

India continued their winning run as they outclassed Australia by 48 runs in a Group B match of the women's World T20 here on Saturday. India came up with an all-round effort to register their fourth victory in as many games. Chasing 167/8, Australia never looked in contention as they lost wickets regularly and could manage just 119 in 19.4 overs. Ellyse Perry was the top scorer for Australia with 39 runs off 28 balls. Ashleigh Gardner (20) and Beth Mooney (19) also got the starts, but failed to covert them into big knocks.

For India, Anuja Patil took three wickets while Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav and Poonam Yadav took two wickets each.

Earlier, opener Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur helped India post 167/8. While Smriti smashed 83 runs off just 55 deliveries, Harmanpreet contributed 43 runs. India lost a few quick wickets before the 68-run partnership between the skipper and the opener took them to a fighting total in their last group game. 

India thus notched up their fourth victory in as many matches to top group B. They will now take on either England or West Indies in the second semifinal. Both India and Australia were already in the semifinals after winning the first three matches in group B. — Agencies