[Watch] Harmanpreet Kaur throws her bat after freak run-out in semi-final vs Australia

India women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur was livid following her bizarre run-out against Australia in the semi-final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup on Thursday (February 23).

While chasing a daunting total of 173 at the Newlands in Cape Town, India were reduced to 28 for 3 in four overs. Both openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana were pinned in front of the stumps by Megan Schutt and Ashleigh Garner respectively.

Yastika Bhatia was run out after the dot ball pressure forced her for a quick single even though there was no room for it. Harmanpreet joined forces with Jemimah Rodrigues and the duo were on a mission to revive the chase.

Both batters took the risk of scoring boundaries under pressure. Harmanpreet was in the business from the moment she entered the field. A gorgeous drive off Darcie Brown for a boundary through the covers got the Indian skipper off the mark.

She clubbed Jess Jonassen over long-on for a huge six with an intent swing of her blade. Harmanpreet used the pace of Megan Schutt to paddle towards fine leg for a boundary. Just as the partnership was cruising, Jemimah edged one while attempting to play the upper cut off Brown after the halfway stage.

However, Kaur didn't stop there and sliced one over backward point for four runs against Tahila McGrath's bowling.

She hammered Australian leg-spinner Georgia Wareham for consecutive boundaries to bring up her 10th half-century in the shortest format. Harmanpreet slog-swept Wareham in a bid to get a couple of runs. For a moment, it seemed like the Indian captain had made her way back to the crease.

But replays suggested that the player's bat was stuck before the crease and her feet were in the air as Alyssa Healy dislodged the wickets at the striker's end to end a brilliant innings from Kaur.

Harmanpreet was furious with the freak dismissal and threw her bat in dismay before uttering some words of advice in the ears of Deepti Sharma, who made her way to the crease.

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Australia won by 5 runs to enter final of Women's T20 World Cup

Harmanpreet Kaur's dismissal paved the way for Australia's win as they were moments away from registering the win. Although Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana hit a couple of fours, it was never enough for India to get through the finish line and they fell five runs short of the target.

Earlier in the Australian innings, opener Beth Mooney scored 54 off 37 balls to set the tone, followed by skipper Meg Lanning (49) upping the scoring rate in the slog overs. Lanning smashed Renuka for a couple of sixes and a four in the final over, where 18 runs were conceded. Australia posted 172/4 and it proved sufficient to be a match-winning total in the end.