21 March,2009 02:10 PM IST | | PTI
India finished third in the ICC Women's World Cup after Jhulan Goswami and her teammates edged out defending champions Australia by three wickets in a playoff cricket match at the Bankstown Oval today.
The Indian bowlers ran through the Australian batting order, bundling the hosts for 142 in 44.4 overs with just three batters - captain Karen Rolton (52), Lisa Sthalekar (30) and Alex Blackwell (19) - managing double digit scores.
India's chase was not smooth sailing either and they faltered and fumbled before eventually reaching 145 for seven wickets in 43.5 overs in the tie which was reduced to 46-overs-a-side following rain.
For the winners, Sulakshana Naik top-scored with 28 while Rumeli Dhar (24) and Jhulan (18) steered the side to victory with an unbeaten 41-run stand. This was India's second victory over the defending champions whom they had earlier beaten by 16 runs in the Super Six stage.
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Rolton's decision to bat first today clearly backfired with Jhulan castling Leah Poulton with the fourth delivery of the day and it was a bad omen for the hosts. Shelley Nitschke (6), the other opener, too didn't last long as Rumeli removed her in the sixth over to reduce the hosts to eight for two.
Rolton and Blackwell had just steadied the ship when India's left-arm spinner Gouher Sultana removed the latter and Australia soon lost the top half of their batting order with the score reading a mere 63.
Rolton found an able ally in the Pune-born Sthalekar and they put on 60 runs before Priyanka Roy removed the Australian captain to trigger a batting collapse and the hosts eventually folded for 142 runs inside 45 overs.
India's pursuit for a modest chase got off to a decent start with opener Anjum Chopra (18) and Anagha Deshpande (15) adding 33 runs before Erin Osborne removed both in successive overs.
Sthalekar then ran through the middle order, removing Mithali Raj (15), Sulakshana Naik (28) and Priyanka Roy (6) to leave India reeling at 104 for seven. Jhulan and Rumeli, however, arrested the slide playing sensible yet positive cricket and they stayed till the end to complete a close win.
Rumeli was adjudged the Player of the Match for her all-round display.
