Australia clinch thriller to book yet another semi-final; India on the brink
India suffered a collapse of 6 for 31 which left them nine runs short in the end
India suffered a collapse of 6 for 31 which left them nine runs short in the end
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: Srinidhi Ramanujam
That's it from us today. Hope you all enjoyed our coverage. I am signing off on behalf of my team. Come back tomorrow for NZ vs Pakistan with the result deciding the second semi-finalist from this group. Until then, take care and good night! McGrath, the stand-in captain: [on 100% win record] Yes, absolutely. We want to win every game we play. We knew it was going to be a really big challenge for us today. They came really hard at us. I am just really proud of the group. We have our nerve at the end there. Obviously, nobody likes injuries, especially to some of the big players. An injury to a captain is always tough. [on captaining today] I was mumbling a bit. No, everyone has been great. The whole team got around me. I had a lot of help out there today from Pez and Ash. It wasn't only me. There were lots of players in different roles today. I thought everyone stepped up really well. [On the pitch] was a tricky one. It was a little bit hard to assess. The ball was skidding on with a bit of pace. When you took the pace up, it was just holding and gripping a bit. We thought it slightly changed in the second inning. There were lots of discussions. [on par score] We were constantly talking about what is a path forward or what do we want to get to. We were having lots of conversations. Whoever is out there knows there is so much depth behind it. You can play with complete freedom. We have shuffled the batting order around a few times. It is just who is the best match-up in that certain situation. [on the last few overs and getting advice from Perry] It has got to be Pez. She has got a great cricket brain. She is really calm. There were a few times I went to her and she was great for me. All the bowlers that took the ball were really clear with their plans and what things they wanted."
Harmanpreet: "They have a batter who can take the target of power play. They don't have anything fixed. According to pitch, according to situation they can make a plan and play. I think we also planned really well. It's not like we were here and there. We were there in the game for the last 20 years. I think the difference between them is that they didn't give us easy runs. I think they have definitely the experience. They have played so many World Cups together. I think that is something that always shows them that they are a great side. [on last minute change after toss] That is something which is not in your control. You always have to make your 13th or 14th play for this tournament. Radha was there and she bowled really well. She knew that she is not going to play today's game. She was in the game. She was building well. She gave us a breakthrough when we made it. You need a character like that in the team. Whenever you need them, they are always there. [On conditions] the conditions, I think we did really well. We knew this was a difficult tournament. The only thing is, when Deepti and I were batting, that time we were not able to utilise a few loose balls. We could have controlled the boundaries. I think we were still in the game. But then again, as we know their experience, they know how to win games like that. We have to learn from them. [On still having chance to qualify] Whatever was in our hands, we were trying to do that. But that is something which is not in our control. If we get the opportunity to play another game, that will be great. But otherwise, whoever deserves to be there, that team will be there."
Molineux is the Player of the Match: "Really good game. India came out hard. Quality game, went down the wire. We held our nerves. I think we just wanted to stay calm. All the senior players stepped up. We just went back to basic. Happy to bounce back. It was very loud, crowd was very one-sided towards India but it's cool. A lot of players have experienced this. It's massive [qualifying for semi-final], any game against India, you mark it in your calendar, it's going to be massive. It's about momentum for us."
9.33pm: Australia advance to knockouts with an unbeaten run in the group stage. Harmanpreet's scratchy fifty goes in vain when 14 was needed off the final over. But Sutherland's excellent death-bowling denied India the much-needed win to step closer to knockouts. After losing top three, Harmanpreet and Deepti gave India hopes but Australia bounced back with the ball to post a nine-run win. India will have to wait till New Zealand's result tomorrow and hope they lose to stay in the top two and qualify for the semi-final. But if NZ win, they are through. Despite the loss, India move to second position with a better NRR than NZ.
Sampath tells us: "India's NRR will be ahead of New Zealand irrespective of their margin of loss tomorrow. But if Pakistan win by 53 or more runs (after scoring 150), they will go to semis."
RP Yadav lbw b Sutherland 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
SR Patil run out 0 (5m 0b 0x4 0x6) SR: -
A Reddy run out 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
Harmanpreet stranded at the other end
P Vastrakar b Sutherland 9 (12m 6b 1x4 0x6) SR: 150.00
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India suffered a collapse of 6 for 31 which left them nine runs short in the end