The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars' World Cup hopes hang by a thread after a crucial 16-run loss to a rejuvenated India at North Sydney Oval today.
Chasing 235 for victory, the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars suffered a pair of batting collapses to finish at 7-218.
The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars must now defeat Pakistan and England and then hope a sequence of other unlikely results fall in their favour to progress to the final on 22 March.
One of these other results includes either West Indies or Pakistan producing a major upset next Thursday, depending on who wins the India-New Zealand clash at North Sydney Oval on Tuesday. Complicating matters is Australia's need to ensure their net run rate is higher than both New Zealand and India if a count back is required at the end of the Super Six stage.
England meanwhile appeared assured of a World Cup final berth after toppling New Zealand by 31 runs at Bankstown Oval to remain undefeated.
"We've got Pakistan in two day's time so we'll need to regroup for that and put on a good show and win well and prepare for when we play England," Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars captain Karen Rolton said.
"We just need to go back to the basics and start doing them well and if we do that I think we'll give England a good run for their money and then whatever happens, happens.
"It's out of our control at the moment.
"We bowled two sides of the wicket today and it got pretty hard to protect. I think we gave them a lot more runs than we should have. We should have kept them to 170-180 because our fielding was pretty good."
After Rolton sent India into bat, Rene Farrell bowled a superb opening spell with just eight runs conceded from her first seven overs. While Farrell was tying down one end, India was able to score more freely at the other however and gained the upper hand with a 69-run opening stand between Anagha Deshpande and Anjum Chopra.
With Australia unable to make a breakthrough with its quartet of pace bowlers by the time the first drinks break was called, Rolton threw the ball to Lisa Sthalekar and the off-spinner produced in her second over with the wicket of Deshpande for 45 from 62 balls.
Fellow spinner Shelley Nitschke claimed the wicket of Thirush Kamini for 2 but India quickly regrouped with Mithali Raj joining Chopra to maintain India's control.
One of the keys of the India innings was its ability to build partnerships at the top of the order. Two of their first three partnerships yielded more than 50 runs as Chopra and Raj moved to 3-158 before taking their batting powerplay.
That powerplay produced 44 vital runs as Mithali Raj (44 from 50), Amita Sharma (31 not out from 22) and Harmanpreet Kaur (19 not out from 8) dispatched the bowling in an entertaining finish to the innings. India scored at more than eight an over in the final 10 overs to convert a solid platform into a challenging target.
India claimed the important wickets of Shelley Nitschke, Karen Rolton and Lisa Sthalekar in a horror 23-ball spell in which the Commonwealth Bank Sothern Stars lost 3-12 after a solid start to their innings.
With Australia's three highest ranked batters back in the pavilion at 3-53, the mission to save the match fell to Alex Blackwell and wicket-keeper Jodie Fields.
Their response was an enterprising partnership. At the half way point of the innings, the run rate hovered below six per over but Blackwell and Fields ensured it did not climb any higher as they found the gaps in the field and ran hard between the wickets.
Fields was particularly impressive, contributing 38 as the pair's 50-run partnership was scored in 75 balls. However her innings came to an end on 43 when an attempted cut ballooned to Kaur.
Reema Malhotra's leg spin claimed both Fields and Blackwell and the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars opener was the next to fall. Blackwell's disciplined innings came unstuck on 54 when she also picked out an India fielder - this time Raj at mid-wicket - with a loose shot from a Malhotra full toss.
When Ellyse Perry was bowled in the next over, Australia required 95 from 74 balls for victory with four wickets in hand. Lauren Ebsary and Rene Farrell contributed an unbeaten 48-run partnership at the end but it was 16 runs short of giving the home team an unlikely victory.
In today's other matches, Pakistan defeated West Indies by four wickets, and in the playoff for seventh place, South Africa thrashed Sri Lanka by nine wickets.
The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars' next match is against Pakistan at Bankstown Oval on Monday.
