India’s semifinal hopes hang by a thread

Bristol : Australia skipper Meg Lanning led from the front with a brilliant unbeaten half-century to guide her side to an eight-wicket win over India and seal a semifinal spot in the women’s World Cup here on Wednesday. The Australians now have 10 points from six outings and sit on top of the table, while India are fourth on the ladder with 8 points from six matches. The Indian eves now face a must-win situation in their final group tie against New Zealand on Saturday to qualify for the last-four stage of the tournament. Along with Australia, hosts England and South Africa have also booked their place in the last-four.
Put in to bat, India rode on a defiant century from opener Punam Raut (106 off 136 balls) and skipper Mithali Raj’s 69 (off 114 balls) to post a below-par 226. Punam and Mithali lifted India with a 157-run second wicket stand after a poor start but failed to accelerate in the later stages of the innings. All-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur (23 off 22 balls) was the only other batswoman to reach the double digits as the middle-order comprising Veda Krishnamurthy (0), Sushma Verma (6) and Jhulan Goswami (2) failed to provide a significant contribution to the total.
In reply, the Australians got off to a brilliant start with the opening duo of Nicole Bolton (36 off 48 balls) and Beth Mooney (45 off 68 balls) setting the tone with a 62-run stand. Thereafter, Lanning (76* off 88 balls) and Ellyse Perry (60* off 67 balls) held the innings together with a 124-run unbeaten stand for the third wicket to dent India’s hopes