Women's World Cup: Mithali, Yastika, Harmanpreet fifties in vain as Australia beat India to book semi-finals berth

With five wins out of five games, Australia have looked like an unstoppable force so far in the tournament.

An improved batting effort was the only bright spot as India failed to defend an imposing total with favourites Australia extending their unbeaten run and booking the semi-finals spot in the Women's World Cup on Saturday. It was Pooja Vastrakar who led the bowling pack and plucked two wickets but it was all but it seemed all but over for India, who were never able to put Australia under pressure until the final overs. India managed to push the game to the final over but it was Australia who overcame the late challenge to record a six-wicket victory at Eden Park, Auckland.

Tahlia McGrath and Beth Mooney of Australia celebrate the win over India (Twitter)

Chasing 278 runs for the win, Australia depended on Meg Lanning, who fell three short of her 15th hundred in Women's One-day Internationals. The skipper ended up scoring 97 off 107 deliveries before falling prey to Meghna Singh in the penultimate over.

With eight needed to win off the last over, Beth Mooney held her nerves to hit two fours against Jhulan Goswami as Australia achieved the target with three balls to spare. Alyssa Healy (72) and Rachael Haynes (43) also gave Australia a flying start to their chase, adding 121 for the opening wicket. The pair notched up 67 runs in the first 10 overs, taking the game away from India with their brisk batting approach.

With five wins out of five games, Australia have looked like an unstoppable force so far in the tournament. They have also qualified for the semi-finals with the last-over victory over the Indians. It was also the highest successful run-chase in Women's World Cup history with Healy setting up the tone and Lanning-Perry getting the job done for the Aussies.

"I think it was good to contribute personally, disappointing to miss out on scores in the last couple of games, but I have trained hard at the nets," said Lanning, who also claimed the Player of the Match.

Earlier, India notched up a competitive 277 for seven after being invited to bat. The Mithali Raj-led side rode on fifty from its captain with Yastika Bhatia (59) and Harmanpreet Kaur (57 not out) also contributing with the willow.

A rejigged batting line-up saw India bringing back Shafali Verma in the starting eleven in place of Deepti Sharma, who had batted at four in the previous two games. The team lost openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali cheaply before Raj and Yastika steadied the innings with a 130-run stand for the third wicket. Yastika, who batted at three with Shafali joining Smriti at the top, scored her first half-century of the tournament.

Mithali also rediscovered her lost mojo after going through a lean patch in the first four games. The skipper a straight six off left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen en route to her first half-century of the competition. Both Mithali and Yastika started rotating the strike after picking up rhythm but perished in quick succession.

India slumped to 213 for six from 158 for two before Harmanpreet came up with unbeaten 57 off 47 balls to take the team well past 250. She found support in Pooja Vastrakar, who once again shone with the bat to add 34 off 28 balls.

Pooja and Harmanpreet collected 64 runs off 47 balls in their seventh-wicket stand with India hitting 52 runs in the last five overs.

"When you lose you always feel you are 10-15 runs short. I think the way Australia started the innings, were always ahead of the asking rate. The fielders couldn't back up the bowlers. The batting is something we wanted to improve and we did. We need to do well in all departments in the remaining games. Next two games are must-win," said Mithali on the defeat.