India crushed the West Indies by eight wickets in Sydney on Thursday but the result was not good enough to ensure them a place in Sunday's final at the ICC Women's World Cup.
The Indians, who had a slim chance of making it to the final, were dealt a severe blow, as Australia tilted their fate by posting an eight-wicket win over England in another Super Six match.
To make it to the final, India needed to beat the West Indies, New Zealand had to go down to Pakistan and England beat Australia in the respective Super Six matches.
India, however, got a chance to make amends for the disappointment as the win over West Indies ensured them a place in the third-place play-off match against Australia on Saturday. Both the teams automatically qualify for the next World Cup.
Chasing a timid target of 84 at the Bankstown Oval, the Indians romped home with 193 balls to spare, opener Sulakshana Naik (39 0ff 48) and in-form Mithali Raj (34 off 41) doing the bulk of the scoring.
Earlier, West Indian skipper Merissa Aguilleira's decision to bat first backfired as right-arm spinner Priyanka Roy (4 for 14) recorded her career-best figures to run through the West Indian batting order after Amita Sharma (2 for 14) and Rumeli Dhar (1 for 16) did the early damage.
The weak West Indian batting line-up cut a sorry figure once again as five of their batters made ducks, including captain Aguilleira.
Opener Stafanie Taylor (29) and one-down Pamela Lavine gave a good start with a 45-run first-wicket partnership, but after the dismissal of Lavine in the 15th over, the West Indians' batting order crumbled like a deck of cards, losing their last seven wickets for just 12 runs.
In reply, the Indians started their timid run chase on a cautious note with opening duo of Anjum Chopra (3) and Naik adding 25 runs in six overs.
With a modest target to chase, Indian skipper Jhulan decided to give debutant Poonam Raut a chance ahead of experienced Mithali but the 19-year-old squandered the opportunity, out for a duck in her first match.
From there on, there was no looking back for the Indians, as Naik and Mithali played sensibly to avoid further hiccups and take their side to victory in 17.5 overs.
For the Windies, pacer D Lewis scalped both the Indian wickets.
Scoreboard:
West Indies:
S Taylor c Sultana b Sharma 29
M Aguilleira c Naik b Dhar 0
P Lavine lbw b Sharma 20
C Taitt st Naik b Sultana 0
C Jack run out (Sharma) 11
D Lewis st Naik b Raut 12
D Dottin c Raut b Roy 0
K Alexander c Naik b Roy 0
S Daley c Goswami b Roy 4
D Small c Sharma b Roy 0
S Selman not out 2
Extras: (LB 1, W 5) 6
Total: (all out in 44.4 overs) 84
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-47, 3-50, 4-53, 5-72, 6-73, 7-75, 8-75, 9-75, 10-84.
Bowling: Jhulan Goswami 7-2-16-0, Rumeli Dhar 5-1-16-1, Amita Sharma 10-4-14-2, Gouher Sultana 10-3-19-1, Priyanka Roy 7.4-2-14-4, Poonam Raut 5-3-4-1.
India:
Sulakshana Naik not out 39
Anjum Chopra c Aguilleira b Lewis 3
Poonam Raut lbw b Lewis 0
Mithali Raj not out 34
Extras: (B 2, W 5, NB 3) 10
Total (for two wickets in 17.5 overs) 86
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-25.
Bowling: Selman 3-0-24-0, Lewis 6-3-19-2, Lavine 5-0-14-0, Alexander 1-0-4-0, Daley 2-0-19-0, Taylor 0.5-0-4-0.
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