Georgetown (Guyana), Nov 17 (IANS) Opener Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's knock helped India women post 167/8 before suffering a batting collapse against Australia in a league game of the Women's World T20 here on Saturday.

While Smriti smashed 83 runs off just 55 deliveries, Harmanpreet contributed 43 runs to take their side to a good total.

The Indian eves kept on losing wickets at regular intervals but it was the 68-run partnership between the Indian skipper and the opener which took them to a fighting total in their last group game, as India have already booked a semi-final berth.

For Australia, medium pacer Ellyse Perry scalped three wickets for just 16 runs.

Brief score: India 167/8 (Smriti Mandhana 83, Harmanpreet Kaur 43; Ellyse Perry 3/16) vs Australia

--IANS kk/nir