A Player of the Match performance from Ash Gardner has lead Australia to victory in the semi-final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup overnight.
Gardner delivered with both bat and ball in Australia's five-run win over arch rival India, securing Australia a seventh straight berth in the tournament's final.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Australia posted a competitive 4-172 with Gardner arriving at the crease after the dismissal of top-scorer Beth Mooney (54 from 37) in the 12th over.
Following the loss of Mooney, Gardner partnered with captain Meg Lanning (49* from 33) in an innings-high 53-run second wicket stand.
In combination with Lanning, the Muruwari allrounder boosting Australia's score towards the conclusion of the innings, scoring 31 runs from just 18 balls.
Striking at 172.22, she found the boundary five times in her innings before being bowled by off-spinner Deepti Sharma late in the 18th over of the innings.
India's reply started woefully with the loss of both openers inside the first three overs of the chase.
Gardner struck in the third over of India's reply, dismissing Indian opener Smriti Mandhana leg-before-wicket after Megan Schutt (1-34) ended Shafali Verma's brief stay at the crease in the previous over.
Following the run out of Yastika Bhatia in the fourth over India were struggling at 3-28, however contributions from middle order mainstays Jemimah Rodrigues (43 from 24) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (52 from 34) saw India recover to 4-133 partway through the 15th over.
However after attempting a regulation second run and getting her bat stuck in the pitch before the crease, Kaur was run out by Gardner, shifting momentum the Australian's way.
Having already lost Rodrigues, the peculiar dismissal left no set Indian batters at the crease, with Rica Gosh (14 from 17) and Deepti Sharma (20* from 17) unable to salvage the Indian innings, with India falling five runs short of the 16 required from the final over of the match.
Gardner collected her second wicket in the innings' 20th over, dismissing Indian tail-ender Radha Yadav without scoring.
She finished with figures of 2-37 from her four overs, one of two Australian multiple wicket takers alongside quick Darcie Brown (2-18 from four).
Following the match, Gardner said India had all the momentum halfway through the chase however dismissing India's key batters brought the Australians back into the match.
"I think at the ten-over mark in India's batting innings, everyone had probably written us off, but I think that just shows the character within our side," Gardner said.
"That's why the best teams win in those types of positions, that's what we speak about. When our backs are up against the wall, we always try and find a way.
"Today, we probably had no right to win. At one point there, they were cruising and then we found a way to get some wickets and ultimately came out on top."
Gardner suggested Australia's fielding, which is regularly considered world's best, was at times the difference throughout the match.
"We showed our class in the field. We always speak about being the best fielding team in the world and I think today really showed that," Gardner said.
She commended the fielding of fellow allrounder Ellyse Perry in particular, who had a quiet match with bat and ball (2* from 2 and 0-14 from 1 over).
"Ellyse Perry was elite on the boundary, she probably saved six runs herself. To think, whether it's dropped catches, missed opportunities in the field, those ultimately add up to quite a lot of runs.
"We took those chances in those pivotal moments when we really needed to and I certainly think Pez (Perry) was probably the blueprint for our side going forward, certainly on the boundary.
"That could have been something that I guess was a difference between us and them."
Australia will look to emulate its performance with bat, ball and in the field in Sunday's final, which will be played at Newlands in Cape Town against either England or South Africa.
