Defeat leaves Australia on brink of T20 exit

– India beat Australia by 24 runs.

– Australia remain on two points in the Super Eights and will miss the semifinals if Afghanistan beat Bangladesh later today.

– India top the group and will face either England in the semifinals.

Captain Rohit Sharma bludgeoned 92 off 41 balls against scratchy Australia and led India into the Twenty20 World Cup semifinals with a thumping 24-run win today.

Sharma smacked the tournament’s fastest half-century off 19 balls and finished with eight sixes and seven boundaries as India plundered a tall 205-5 after being put in to bat.

Travis Head kept Australia in the hunt with a blistering 76 off 43 balls, but his teammates choked against spinners Kuldeep Yadav (2-24) and Axar Patel (1-21) to be restricted at 181-7.

India closed out the Super Eight with three wins from three matches, and will take on Group 2 runner-up England in the second semifinal on Thursday.

Unbeaten South Africa, which topped Group 2 with three out of three, won’t know its semifinal opponent until the last Super Eight game later Monday between Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Australia was in danger of missing out on the semifinals.