India after having suffered an agonising nine-run loss to six times World Champions Australia at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday night, will hope that their arch rivals Pakistan defeat New Zealand in their final league game tonight in order to keep their dreams of qualifying for Women's T20 World Cup dreams alive. Australia, who topped Group A with an all win record, booked their place in the semi-final for the ninth time in a row with eight points.

India with two wins from four many games on the other hand are currently tied with New Zealand in Group A in terms of points (four each),  but have a better Net Run Rate (NRR) of +0.322 as compared to +0.282 of the Kiwis. A win for Pakistan who have two points and inferior NRR 0f -0.488 will provide an opportunity for all these teams for a place in the second semi-final that will be decided on NRR.

A win for New Zealand, however ensured their passage into the last four at the expense of India.

"It's something which is not in our control," admitted India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who scored a valiant unbeaten 54 off 47 during her team’s 152 run chase, after being handed a reprieve on 15 in the 12th over when Darcie Brown put down a tricky chance off leg spinner Georgia Wareham.

Needing 53 runs off the final five overs and 14 runs of the final over off pacer Annabel Sutherland, India welted under pressure and lost four wickets in space of six balls while adding mere four runs that saw the Women in Blue score 142 for 9 in the end.

What might haunt the Indian skipper in case her team fails to qualify for the semis, is her decision not to take her side across the line on a pitch favouring the bowlers. Having completed her fifty, she took a single on the first delivery off Annabel. All-rounder Pooja Vastrakar who came on strike was cleaned up on the second delivery and Arundhati Reddy's run out in the very next ball in the nervy run chase allowed Australia to sniff victory. Needing 13 off 3 at this stage, Harmanpreet who was back on strike instead of using the long handle took a single on the fourth delivery that brought inexperienced Shreyanka Patil the daunting task of smashing two sixes in as many balls. In a comedy of errors Shreyanka run out on a wide delivery, followed by Radha Yadav's LBW dismissal on the next ended any hope of India win as new batter Renuka Singh managed a single off the final ball of the innings, that allowed Australia come up trumps by nine runs and extend their winning record to 15 matches.

India earlier had a poor outing in the outfield in the must win match as their fielders dropped three catches, missed a stumping and a run-out chance that allowed Australia register the highest total (151 for 8) at this venue in the ongoing tournament. Harmanpreet too was guilty of missing a straight forward chance of rival stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath after Renuka Sinth struck twice in as many balls in the third over of the innings with 17 runs on the board. Tahlia went on to score 32 runs, while opener Grace Harris (40) anchored the Australian innings. All-rounder Ellyse Perry too added valuable 32 runs when her team had scored 101 for five in 15 overs.

An optimistic Harmanpreet further expressed "If we get the opportunity to play another game, that will be great. But otherwise, whoever deserves to be there, that team will be there."

Tahlia McGrath who was deputising for injured Alyssa Healy post the match stated that her team hunger to win each and every game they play.  "We knew it was going to be a really big challenge for us today. They came really hard at us. I am just really proud of the group. We held our nerve at the end there."

Meanwhile, Pakistan stand-in skipper Muneeba Ali said her team has not given up hope of squeezing into the semi-finals at the expense of New Zealand and India on Monday. For this her team has to significantly improve their NRR.

 "We know that the pool is still open. We have a chance to win tomorrow's match and if we win by a good margin, we have a chance to qualify for the semi-finals," said Muneeba. Pakistan will be boosted by the return of skipper Fatima Sana who missed the nine-wicket loss to Australia after briefly returning home following the death of her father.

Brief Scores:

Australia: 151 for 8 in 20 overs (Grace Harris 40, Tahlia McGrath 32, Ellyse Perry 32; Renuka Singh Thakur 2/24, Deepti Sharma 2/28) beat India: 142 for 9 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 54 not out, Deepti Sharma 29; Annabel Sutherland 2/22, Sophie Molineux 2/32) by nine runs. Player of the Match: Sophie Molineux (Australia)

Photo Cover: Australian players congratulate Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur for her valiant knock on a losing cause

Photo Above: Team India’s progress in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup will depend on the outcome of final Group A league match between Pakistan and New Zealand and further on NRR in case the former wins (Photos courtesy The- ICC)