T20 tri-series: Australia women knock India out

Mumbai: India women suffered their third consecutive defeat in tri-series T20 tournament on Monday. The hosts went down to Australia by 36 runs in a lopsided contest at Brabourne stadium. Australia will thus take on England in the final to be held on March 31. England’s remaining two matches against Australia (March 28) and India (March 29) are now inconsequential.

Chasing Australia's imposing score of 186/5, local girl Jemimah Rodrigues who opened the innings with Smriti Mandhana produced her first international half-century. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur made 33 but India were never really in the chase on Monday.

India were undone by Megan Schutt's hat-trick which included Mandhana and Mithali Raj.

Brief scores: Australia 186/5 (Beth Mooney 71, Elyse Villani 61, Pooja Vastrakar 2/28) bt India 150/5 (Jemimah Rodrigues 50, Megan Schutt 3/31).