AUSTRALIA is through to yet another T20 World Cup final, after it downed India by five runs in a nail-biting semi-final.

In a sight that is becoming less and less rare, Australian skipper Meg Lanning won the toss and decided to have a bat. Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney made a solid start to the innings with a half century partnership that set up the innings nicely.

Lanning and Ash Gardner then put on a 53 run third wicket partnership to give the innings another boost and in the end the Australians made the very competitive 4/172 from their 20 overs. Mooney finished on 54 while Lanning finished not out but one short of a half century.

Meanwhile Shikha Pandey picked up two wickets for the Indians, while Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav each picked up one.

The Indian chase did not get off to a start anywhere near as good as the Australian innings, with the Indians already 2/15 down after just 2.2 overs. But thanks to a 69-run partnership between Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur ensured the Indians were still in the match.

However, Kaur’s unlucky run out proved to be a turning point in the game. The Indians then lost several wickets and when they lost wicket number eight, they still needed 11 runs off the final two balls of the innings.

They managed to only half that target in the last two balls, finishing five runs short on 8/167 and ultimately unable to avenge the loss in the final three years ago. Kaur and Rodrigues were the shining lights with the bat for India, making 52 and 43 respectively.

Meanwhile for the Australians Gardner and Darcie Brown were the pick of the bowlers with two each, while Megan Schutt and Jess Jonassen each picked up one.

The Australians will play either England or South Africa in the final, with the second semi-final set to be played tonight.