Perry, Gardner pull off record chase to eliminate India from T20 WC

Harmanpreet Kaur and co. endured a rollercoaster ride at a packed Lord's as Australia chased down 171 to sign off on India's painful group stage exit for the second T20 World Cup in a row. Even though India's skipper Harmanpreet scored the fastest T20 World Cup fifty, the bowlers were unable to maintain the pressure after controlling Australia's response for the first half. A chanceless century partnership between Ellyse Perry and Ash Gardner ensured Australia completed a clinical chase with an over to spare.

Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana built a 66-run opening partnership after a watchful Powerplay start, keeping Australia wicketless in the first six overs. This was India's highest opening stand against Australia in Women's T20 World Cup history, surpassing the 41-run mark set in Sydney in 2020 by the same pair. Verma hit two sixes and two boundaries in her first two overs, particularly against offspinner Ash Gardner. However, her matchup issues with left-armer Sophie Molineux surfaced once more when the Australian captain caught Molineux for a 26-ball 34 in her very first delivery of the game.

Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues attempted to rebuild, but the vice-captain was run out on 38 due to a communication breakdown in the loud stadium. Following that, Rodrigues operated nearly like a run-a-ball, making it difficult for him to escape. She ended up getting out on 34 out of 28 deliveries, becoming only the second Indian batswoman since Yastika Bhatia did so in the previous T20I series against England.

Rodrigues and Harmanpreet put on a crucial 68-run stand before Rodrigues left at the beginning of the final over, with the captain scoring the majority of the runs. Harmanpreet showed intent from the get-go, finding the odd boundary before completely turning on the heat at the death. India scored 36 runs in the final overs thanks to her 23 runs off just six balls. That included three sixes off her counterpart Molineux, albeit also losing her wicket to her. In the process, Harmanpreet scored a stunning fifty, the fastest fifty for India in Women's T20 World Cup history, beating her own 27-ball score against Sri Lanka in Dubai in the previous tournament.

With a first-ball boundary off Renuka Thakur, Georgia Voll launched the chase, but the pacer responded immediately. Good use of DRS proved that Voll would be trapped by a sharp nip-backer that hit the top of the leg stump. With back-to-back boundaries against Kranti Gaud, the returning Phoebe Litchfield settled in after a cautious start. After that, Beth Mooney hit Thakur for a couple of boundaries, and Litchfield hit Verma downtown for a maximum. After suffering an early setback, Australia bounced back to win the powerplay at 49/1 and scored 24 runs in the final two overs.

Shree Charani, the tournament's leading wicket-taker, broke the threatening partnership in her first over, getting Litchfield caught at long-off. After that, Deepti Sharma joined the party and quickly got rid of a well-set Mooney. The Indian off-spinner became the highest wicket-taker in women's cricket history thanks to this historic dismissal.

Australia fought back with a costly 17-run over from Radha Yadav just as India appeared to be in control and the asking rate rose to 10.75 for the final eight overs. Gardner smashed a four and a six to break the shackles, Perry collected a boundary too and Australia never looked back.

India's spinners, economical until then, began to leak runs and Australia transferred the pressure back. Verma gave up 12 runs in her final over, while Charani gave up 11 in the 16th. Thakur's final over proved to be the nail in the coffin, leaking 17 runs as Perry and Gardner hammered two boundaries and a six. Perry brought up a brilliant half-century off 33 balls, before Gardner joined her with a 28-ball milestone. India's World Cup hopes were dashed once more when Australia won the formalities with one over to spare, despite Perry becoming Charani's 14th victim of the tournament.