India crash out of Women's World Cup

MUMBAI: Even as the near-full north stand at the Brabourne stadium cheered lustily, the crowd failed to rouse the spirits of an uninspired Indian outfit as the hosts succumbed to Sri Lanka by 138 runs on Tuesday.

In the process, India lost not only the final Group 'A' match of the 10th ICC Women's World Cup but also failed to make the cut for the Super Six. While for the hosts it was their worst-ever World Cup show, for the Lankans, who had never beaten India, it was a fabulous first. India will now play Pakistan for the seventh place at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, on Thursday.

Chasing 283 to win or 251 to reach the Super Six, the opening duo of T Murugesan and Poonam Raut tried to emulate their performance against the Windies. However, just after her first boundary, Raut fell lbw to Kaushalya Lokusooriya. Coming in at 6 for 1, skipper Mithali Raj (20) played a cameo before she too was trapped leg before by left-arm-seamer Udeshika Prabodhani. And when vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur too departed, getting caught at point by Chamari Atapattu off Chamani Seneviratna, the fight went out of the Indians.

With the Sri Lankans striking at regular intervals and the Indian batters struggling to lift the run-rate, it was a point of no return for the hosts as they were bundled out for 144.

Cricket

Keywords: Women's World Cup, Women's cricket,