Having held India at 133 for eight, the White Ferns would have fancied their chances in Melbourne having not failed to chase a sub-140 T20I target since October 2013.

But they were thwarted with the bat, their star-studded top-order of Sophie Devine, Rachel Priest and Suzie Bates all falling within nine overs, as Amelia’s Kerr’s stunning late cameo proved not enough to prevent defeat.

The tense Junction Oval win means India are guaranteed a spot in the last four, with the battle for the final qualifying spot in Group A heating up.

Another impressive outing from Shafali Verma (46) set India on their way but a fine spell of bowling from New Zealand’s own teenage talent Kerr stopped her from dominating, the 19-year-old leg-spinner taking the innings-changing wicket to finish with figures of two for 21.

Smriti Mandhana, who missed the win over Bangladesh due to viral fever, saw her comeback cut short as she was dismissed for 11 by Lea Tahuhu in the third over, the opener chopping onto her stumps.

But once again Verma stepped up, the 16-year-old smashing back-to-back sixes to steer India to 49 for one in the Powerplay.

Tanya Bhatia, in at three, soon followed Verma’s lead, taking India beyond 60 but she perished for 23 when Kerr caught her at point off Rosemary Mair. The same duo combined again to dismiss Jemimah Rodrigues for ten.

Verma was twice given a lifeline as chances were squandered in the field, Maddy Green dropping an opportunity at long on before Tahuhu spilled at mid-wicket.

Harmanpreet Kaur’s disappointing form continued as the India captain was caught and bowled by Leigh Kasperek for one - her third single-figure score in the tournament.

Hayley Jensen made amends for her side’s earlier errors by catching Verma at cover off Kerr for 46, before the spinner trapped Veda Krishnamurthy lbw for six.

Chasing 134, Priest’s time in the middle was short-lived as her aerial option backfired, Radha Yadav holding on at mid-wicket off Pandey to remove the opener for 12.

And the White Ferns’ start to the innings went from bad to worse when the Bates-Devine partnership fell after four overs, the former handing Deepti Sharma her 50th T20I wicket.

Before long Poonam Yadav struck with her spin, dismissing Devine after the skipper mistimed her full toss to point.

The fourth-wicket pair of Green (24) and Katey Martin (25) cautiously plodded on, putting on a 43-run partnership before the former was caught behind by Bhatia off Rajeshwari Gayakwad.

Two overs later and Martin was gone, Rodrigues with the catch on the mid-wicket boundary off Radha Yadav.

That looked to be game done and dusted but Kerr (34) defied Poonam’s heroics to set up a nerve-wracking finale, striking 18 in the penultimate over.

But she couldn’t muster a final-ball six as the White Ferns agonisingly missed out, suffering their first defeat of this Women’s T20 World Cup.

Scores in brief

India beat New Zealand by three runs, Junction Oval, Melbourne

India 133-8, 20 overs (Shafali Verma 46; Amelia Kerr 2-21, Rosemary Mair 2-27)

New Zealand 130-6, 20 overs (Amelia Kerr 34 not out, Katey Martin 25; Shikha Pandey 1-21)

The West Indies Women started with a seven-wicket win over Thailand before being blitzed by Pakistan and then England. Their final game against South Africa was abandoned on account of persistent showers.

But in those losses there were no individual performances of note, leaving the ICC selectors with the easy choice of leaving them out.

The selectors did have a tough time though, with five players from Australia’s victorious squad being named to the Team of the Tournament.

Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney did damage aplenty with the bat and the two reprise their roles as openers in the final XI.

They’re joined by fast bowler Megan Schutt, who took four wickets in the Final against India to finish as leading wicket-taker with 13, and left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen.

There is also a spot for captain Meg Lanning, who led Australia from the front both with the bat and in the field to guide her country to a fifth Women’s T20 World Cup title.

The side was pulled together by a selection panel featuring commentators and former international players Ian Bishop, Anjum Chopra and Lisa Sthalekar, journalist Raf Nicholson and ICC representative Holly Colvin.

 The team of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 (in batting order) is:

1.     Alyssa Healy (wk) (Australia) – 236 runs at 39.33, seven dismissals
2.     Beth Mooney (Australia) – 259 runs at 64.75
3.     Nat Sciver (England) – 202 runs at 67.33
4.     Heather Knight (England) – 193 runs at 64.33
5.     Meg Lanning (c) (Australia) – 132 runs at 44
6.     Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa) – 94 runs at strike rate of 149
7.     Jess Jonassen (Australia) – 10 wickets at 14.00
8.     Sophie Ecclestone (England) – eight wickets at 6.12
9.     Anya Shrubsole (England) – eight wickets at 10.62
10.     Megan Schutt (Australia) – 13 wickets at 10.30
11.     Poonam Yadav (India) – 10 wickets at 11.9
12.     Shafali Verma (India) – 163 runs at strike rate of 158.25

Healy and Mooney broke their own record set in 2018 with the most runs as a partnership in a Women’s T20 World Cup, with 352 at an average close to 60.

They also made their second century partnership in four innings while Healy lit up Melbourne to record the quickest 50 in a Final and the highest score in the showcase.

The latter was beaten by her partner a few overs later, with Mooney’s unbeaten 78 seeing her reach 259 runs - the most for one player at any edition of the tournament.

The Australian pair are followed in the team by another stellar duo, with nobody bettering the 169-run partnership made by Nat Sciver and Heather Knight against Thailand.

The middle-order batters were in inspired form throughout, Knight becoming the first England cricketer to register centuries in all three formats with her ton against the debutants.

Sciver’s consistency was remorseless in Australia, scoring half-centuries in three of England’s four completed matches to end her tournament with 202 runs and two wickets.

Ensconcing herself in the middle order is Lanning, who steered her country to a historic fifth Women’s T20 World Cup title and the first on home soil.

Her 49 in the semi-final against South Africa will be remembered as one of the most vital innings of the competition, while her tournament-defining captaincy sees her named skipper for this team.

Laura Wolvaardt only batted in two innings but certainly made her mark on the action.

The 20-year-old struck 53 not out to take South Africa beyond Pakistan, with a glorious array of straight and cover drives lighting up the Sydney Showground.

And she almost went one better in the semi-final against Australia, another eye-catching knock of 41 not out seeing her team finish just short of the Final.

As for the bowlers, few could match the feats of left-arm spinner Jonassen, who finished with ten scalps in her six matches.

The Australian took at least one wicket in each, with no better haul than the three for 20 against India in the Final which clinched a fifth title.

She’s joined in the XI by two record-breaking England bowlers in spinner Sophie Ecclestone and pacer Anya Shrubsole.

No bowler has taken more than Shrubsole’s 41 Women’s T20 World Cup wickets, with eight coming in her four matches Down Under.

For Ecclestone, meanwhile, the sky is the limit for a 20-year-old who has taken a wicket in her last 18 T20I matches.

A tournament tally of eight for 49 combines both wicket-taking ability and a stunning economy rate for Ecclestone, who now sits top of the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Bowling Rankings.

Coming in at ten is Schutt, with no player bettering the 13 wickets she took at a single tournament.

That all came to the perfect conclusion at the MCG for Schutt, finishing with four for 18 against an India line-up she had feared to win the Final for Australia.

Rounding off the XI is leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, who had Australia in knots in a dramatic opening game of the tournament.

India’s leading T20I wicket-taker took four for 19 in the opener and didn’t look back, bagging three against Bangladesh before rounding off with wickets in each match.

Taking her place as 12th is teenage sensation Shafali Verma – who broke record after record at the top of India’s order.

Fearless cricket had the opposition running scared of the 16-year-old, with her devastating 163 runs coming at a jaw-dropping strike rate of 158.25.

Yadav was the latest Indian spinner to shine as her four-wicket haul proved pivotal in restricting Sri Lanka to 113 for nine in Melbourne while Verma’s knock of 47 put them in cruise control in the chase,

They eventually hit the target with 32 balls to spare, bringing up India’s fourth successive victory in the tournament.

The win means India, who had already qualified for the semi-finals, will top the Group A table with eight points while Sri Lanka will aim to clinch their first win against Bangladesh on Monday.

Deepti Sharma got India going by removing Umesha Thimeshani for two when Rajeshwari Gayakwad caught her slice at point.

And Gayakwad was the architect of the next to fall, bowling Harshitha Madhavi to leave Chamari Athapaththu holding the fort in the eighth over.

The Sri Lanka captain is no stranger to coping with pressure but this time the skipper holed out to Shikha Pandey when she ambitiously went for her second six off Yadav in two balls.

From there Sri Lanka struggled to regain momentum as Hasini Perera was caught behind by Tanya Bhatia for seven off Yadav.

And it didn’t take Yadav long to stake her claim as India’s spinner of the afternoon, but she had to thank Veda Krishnamurthy for her third wicket as she kept her balance to catch Hansima Karunaratne at the long-on boundary.

The wickets kept on falling in the middle overs and Gayakwad took her second when Krishnamurthy was again alert at long-on to catch Shashikala Siriwardena for 13.

Yadav finished her spell with four for 23 after trapping Anushka Sanjeewani lbw in the 16th over but a late cameo from Kavisha Dilhari (25 not out) helped lift Sri Lanka to 113.

Verma set the tone for India’s successful chase by belting a boundary off the first ball but was lucky she lasted beyond the second over when Dilhari spilled a catch at extra cover.

It proved costly as the 16-year-old sensation produced yet another impressive opening display, hitting five boundaries and a six in the Powerplay to take India to 49 for one.

Dilhari made up for dropping Verma by catching her opening partner Smriti Mandhana at mid-on off Udeshika Prabodani for 16.

It was a brighter outing for Harmanpreet Kaur, the India skipper hitting two fours and a six in the eighth over to reach double figures for the first time in the tournament, but was halted at 15 when Karunaratne caught her off Siriwardena.

Verma led the charge and sent the India fans in Melbourne wild when she crashed one to the boundary through square leg from behind the stumps.

But she fell three short of her maiden World Cup half-century when she was run out by Dilhari.

With Verma having laid the foundations, Sharma and Jemimah Rodrigues, both 15 not out, had no trouble polishing off the win with 32 balls to spare.

Scores in brief

India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets, Junction Oval, Melbourne

Sri Lanka 113-9, 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 33; Radha Yadav 4-23, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2-18)

India 116-3, 14.4 overs (Shafali Verma 47, Smriti Mandhana 17; Udeshika Prabodani 1-13)

Verma smashed a 17-ball 39, including four sixes, in the Powerplay to steer India to the highest total of the competition so far with 142 for six.

Two wickets apiece for Salma Khatun and Panna Ghosh were not enough to halt momentum, nor 35 runs from top-scorer Nigar Sultana Joty as Bangladesh fell short of an upset at the WACA.

Yadav, the hero in India’s opening-night victory with four wickets against Australia, once again impressed to take her total to the tournament to seven after just two matches.

India lost Tanya Bhatia early but 16-year-old Verma once again showed her star potential by hitting two fours and four sixes in her first 15 balls to steer her country to the highest Powerplay score of the tournament so far at 54 for two.

Verma’s stint was however short-lived, Shamima Sultana juggling a catch off captain Khatun to halt the teenager’s impressive knock at 39.

Bangladesh’s third wicket was a big one as captain Harmanpreet Kaur was dismissed for eight, Rumana Ahmed with the catch at backward point for Panna’s second scalp.

Jemimah Rodrigues posted a steadying 34 off 37 before being run out by Nahida Akter as Bangladesh slowed the rate.

Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh put on 19 for the fifth wicket before the latter was caught at the boundary by Nahida for 14 as captain Salma doubled her tally.

Sharma was the next to depart, run-out after a mix-up in the middle with Veda Krishnamurthy (20), who swept four boundaries in her late cameo to take India to an impressive 142 in the absence of Smriti Mandhana.

In contrast, Bangladesh’s start was slow and Shamima was the first to perish when caught at extra cover off Shikha Pandey.

Murshida Khatun’s 30 off 26 got the wheels in motion but the opener was dismissed in the seventh by Arundathi Reddy, Richa Ghosh with the catch at extra cover.

Sanjida Islam (10) and Nigar Sultana (35) put on a 17-run third wicket stand until the former was caught behind by Bhatia off Yadav, before Reddy got her second wicket as Fargana Hoque fell for a duck.

Five boundaries from Nigar Sultana upped the total but she lost her partner Fahima Khatun for 17 in the 15th over as opening-night hero Yadav took her second scalp.

The wickets kept on falling at the WACA, Nigar Sultana was the next victim as Reddy caught her off Rajeshwari Gayakwad before Jahanara Alam was dismissed for ten.

Shikha Pandey took her second wicket by bowling Ahmed in the final over, but Yadav finished the evening with the best bowling figures of three for 18 as India made it two from two in Group A.

Scores in brief

India beat Bangladesh by 18 runs, WACA Ground, Perth

India 142-6, 20 overs (Shafali Verma 39, Jemimah Rodrigues 34; Salma Khatun 2-25, Panna Ghosh 2-25)

Bangladesh 124-8, 20 overs (Nigar Sultana Joty 35, Poonam Yadav 3-18, Shikha Pandey)