Aussies advance with crushing win

The score: India 7-226 (Raut 106, Perry 2-37, Schutt 2-52) lost to Australia 2-227 (Lanning 76no, Perry 60no, Yadav 1-46) by eight wickets in 45.1 overs at Bristol’s County Ground

The match in a tweet: A brilliant chase from Lanning and Perry sees Australia lock in a place in the #WWC17 semi-finals with a dominant win over India! 

The hero: Once again, it was Australia skipper Meg Lanning who led from the front to ensure her team will feature in the semi-finals of this World Cup. Coming to the crease with Australia 1-62 after the departure of Nicole Bolton (36) in the 16th over, Lanning got off the mark with a single before striking the next delivery she faced for a six. On a slow wicket, Australia’s chase had gotten off to a sluggish start but Lanning was quickly on the front foot, striking four boundaries on her way to a half-century from 55 deliveries. She finished unbeaten on 76, passing one major milestone on the way – 5000 international runs. She shared an unbeaten 124-run third-wicket stand with Ellyse Perry, who continued her outstanding tournament with the bat, scoring her fourth consecutive half-century and finishing with a flourish to be 60no.

The support act: Australia’s bowlers did a superb job containing what is a threatening India batting line-up. They kept the Indians to 1-25 from the first 10 overs as Ashleigh Gardner claimed the huge early wicket of opener Smriti Mandhana. While it took until the 41st over to take a second, Australia’s economical bowling made it hard for India to score freely. Once they picked up the wicket of Punam Raut for 106, India lost 5-23 with the likes of Harmanpreet Kaur (22 off 23) unable to inflict any major damage. After her line wavered early, Perry’s bounced back to finish her 10 overs in style, the allrounder claiming 2-37. Megan Schutt (2-52) was the other multiple wicket taker, while Jess Jonassen (0-38 from 10) bowled superbly without reward.

The consolation effort: Batting on a slow pitch, India opener Raut scored a century and helped her side to a competitive total. Dropped on five after Alex Blackwell failed to hold on to a tough chance at gully, Raut shared a 157-run second-wicket stand with her captain Mithali Raj and scored her second ODI century in the process. Happy to absorb dot balls early, Raut accelerated as she approached three figures but her knock ended when she picked out Nicole Bolton on the boundary, departing for 106 from 136.

The record-breaker: Raj became the highest run scorer in women’s one-day international history, passing 6,000 ODI runs on Wednesday morning against Australia in Bristol. Raj needed just 34 runs to overtake former England captain Charlotte Edwards’s 5992 on the all-time ODI run-scoring charts. She brought up the record-breaking 5993rd run with a single in the 29th over and then became the first woman to 6,000 ODI runs in far more emphatic fashion, striking a big six over the head of Australian leg-spinner Kristen Beams. Raj later brought up her 49th half-century from 96 deliveries.

The stat: When Lanning reached 40, she also marked her 5,000th international run. She’s the fourth Australian woman to reach the milestone, following in the footsteps of Belinda Clark, Karen Rolton and current teammate Alex Blackwell, who passed 5,000 runs against England on Sunday.

What it means: Australia are safely through to the semi-finals, but will still be eager to finish on top of the table and secure a place in the first semi-final in Bristol when they meet South Africa in Taunton on Saturday. India now have to defeat New Zealand in Derby on Saturday to make the play-offs, in what essentially becomes a quarter-final.

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Australia World Cup squad: Sarah Aley, Kristen Beams, Alex Blackwell (vc), Nicole Bolton, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Meg Lanning (c), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Belinda Vakarewa, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington.

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