It was a typical Australian performance. They did not need a win in the fifth and final group game as they had already reached the semi-finals of the Womenโs T20 World Cup after winning their first four matches. India, on the other hand, desperately needed such a candidate to qualify. And it looked as if they had done so, with a late burst with the bat reaching 170 and then an early squeeze that saw Australia require 86 from eight overs.
Then in the blink of an eye it was all gone as the accelerating century stand of Ellyse Perry and Ash Gardner crushed the world record chase with an over and six wickets to spare. Ruthless, nerveless, merciless.
Australiaโs exit to the semi-finals also marked a much less confident and less confident South Africa, who earlier in the day on the same Lordโs ground had bowled out lowly Bangladesh for a total of 117, making more deliveries than Australia needed for 172. South Africaโs post-chase nerves continued for much of the next match, with most of the players remaining on the court to see for themselves whether they would make it to the knockout, as they had done with four wins before the Indian trio.
For Australia, the match was a risk-free chance to experiment. Lucy Hamilton and Kim Garth formed a double-seam attack, with spinner Alana King left out, although Australia relied on slower bowling for much of the tournament. Perry, whose bowling has become rare in recent years, was given the edge in the powerplay. Gardner did the same. Sophie Molino did not, despite doing the job so far throughout the tournament, instead attempting left-arm spin in the 20th over when it was viciously attacked by her rival captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
Harmanpreet Kaur, Indiaโs captain, strikes as Beth Mooney looks on. Photo: Colorsport/Ashley Western/Shutterstock
Despite the changes, Australia was on top until its late bloom. Indiaโs star opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma remained in control despite the occasional big hit, adding 66 runs together but it took almost half the innings to do so.
Frustrated, Verma tried to clumsily give her stumps to Molino, while Mandhana noticed a ghostly run that evaporated as she approached him. Jemima Rodriguez was busy but continued to look for Border Racers.
It was only in the last two overs that things really picked up for India, with three sixes from Harmanpreet and one from Rodriguez, although two of those scoring shots came over the rope when attempted catches by Georgia Wareham and Phoebe Litchfield went awry. Australia will want to rectify this, but may not mind some extra runs to test themselves at a canter rather than a canter.
Litchfield hadnโt found that rhythm after three matches with a quad injury, swinging hard but only finding clean contact when she strapped a pad on her thigh in desperation. Her 24 of 25 followed the dismissal of Georgia Fall in the second ball of the innings, she hit the first ball through cover for four and then went lbw after Renuka Singh Thakur correctly asked for a review.
With Beth Mooneyโs 22 at 68 for three, Australia needed another 103 runs off 65 balls and with so many players battling for time on the Lordโs surface it was a steep task.
But while the required run rate increased for three more overs, Perry and Gardner settled down and turned the tide, taking 17 runs from Radha Yadav, 16 from Sri Charani, 12 from Shafali Verma and then, as Harmanpreet returned from spin to seam, another 17 from Renuka.
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Ash Gardner and Richa Ghosh watch the ball fly away. Photograph: Alex Davidson/ICC/Getty Images
Perry repeatedly cleared gaps at cover and point despite packed fields, Gardner hit two sixes on the pull and another on the ground before the target came under fire with three overs to go. Indiaโs faces showed a picture of an already defeated team.
If they needed to, the Aussies could have finished the game with two overs remaining. Instead, both raised fifty, with Perry giving up the catch for 56 and Wareham finishing with four in a row.
Apart from the implications for India and South Africa on the day, the nature of the result is a warning for all three other semi-final teams. Australia got nothing, were happy to experiment and still ran into a good team like a freight train. It will take something special to confuse them.