India Knocked Out Of ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 As Australia Hand 6-Wicket Defeat At Lord's

India's wait for a maiden ICC T20 Women's World Cup title continues as the Women in Blue were knocked out by Australia on Sunday. Harmanpreet Kaur and Co needed a win at Lord's to qualify for the semi-final but suffered a 6-wicket defeat despite a half-century from their captain.

Earlier, captain Harmanpreet Kaur produced a sensational unbeaten 56 off 27 balls as India posted a challenging 170/4 at Lord's. After electing to bat, India got off to a steady start through openers Smriti Mandhana (38) and Shafali Verma (34), who added 74 runs before Australia's bowlers struck back. Mandhana's innings ended in a costly run-out following a mix-up with Jemimah Rodrigues.

Harmanpreet then anchored the innings alongside Rodrigues, who retired hurt after scoring 34 off 28 balls, before taking charge in the final over. The India skipper smashed three consecutive sixes and helped her side collect 23 runs from the last over, with Deepti Sharma adding a boundary off the final ball. India now need a victory over the unbeaten Australians to secure a place in the semi-finals after South Africa's earlier win over Bangladesh.