Healy, Perry seal all-time classic for Australia

Alyssa Healy's epic 142 powered Australia to the highest successful chase in women's ODI history, leaving a packed Visakhapatnam stadium thinning very quickly towards the close as World Cup hosts India suffered a second successive heartbreak.

Two nights after failing to defend 252 against South Africa, India's decision to play just the five specialist bowlers will be debated long and hard after they were unable to work with a total of 330. Australia won with six balls to spare, and three wickets in hand; Ellyse Perry hoisting her WPL team-mate Sneh Rana down the ground to seal victory.

Perry, who remained unbeaten on 47, had suffered a bout of cramps that forced her to retire hurt with Australia cruising at 154 for 1. Then she returned at the fall of Ash Gardner's wicket with Australia needing 32 off 36. When Amanjot Kaur had Sophie Molineux lbw at the start of the 46th over, Australia were seven down.

This is when Kim Garth joined forces with Perry to put on 28 crucial runs off 23 balls to see Australia home. Garth finished unbeaten on 14, including a superbly executed reverse-paddle off Rana in the penultimate over with Australia needing 13 off 11. The win, Australia's third in four games, puts them on top of the table halfway through the World Cup.

India were eventually left to rue the seven balls they didn't play after a late and sensational collapse - they lost 9 for 138 in the last 30 overs to finish with 330 when they looked set to scale 350. Unlike Australia, who had Healy go on to convert her start into a maiden century as captain, and third in a World Cup, India were left waiting for their big innings, with both Smriti Mandhana (80) and Pratika Rawal (75) falling short of three-figures.

Except left-arm spinner N Shree Charani, who displayed terrific control to put the brakes on Australia with figures of 3 for 41, the others wilted against Healy's assault in trying conditions. Shree Charani bowled out in the 39th over, by which time Australia's required rate was a-run-a-ball.

It didn't help that Kranti Gaud, full of bristling promise, had a second off day, conceding 73 in nine wicketless overs, while Sneh Rana, one of India's form bowlers, went for 85 from her full quota. The make-up of India's attack meant Harmanpreet Kaur had few alternatives on what was among the best batting surfaces of the tournament.

Australia began cautiously, scoring just 25 off the first five overs before switching gears to ransack 57 in the next five. Healy's fast hands were on display as she took 18 off Gaud's fourth over, while Phoebe Lichfield cracked three consecutive boundaries off Amanjot Kaur before a missed stumping chance briefly spared her. India didn't have to wait long, though, as Litchfield fell reverse-sweeping Shree Charani to Rana at point to end an 85-run opening stand off just 11.2 overs.

From overs 6.6 to 10 alone, Australia hammered eight fours and two sixes, most from Healy, who dismantled India's spinners with sweeps to every part of the leg side. Perry, scratchy early on, found rhythm alongside her, even resorting to reverse sweeps to unsettle Rana. Their fifty stand came in 55 balls, but India sensed an opening when Perry retired hurt and Beth Mooney and Annabel Sutherland, who celebrated her birthday earlier in the day with a five-for, fell in quick succession.

Healy briefly reined herself in before surging to a brilliant century off 84 balls, managing the chase almost single-handedly despite struggling with cramps. Her dismissal, caught off a sliced drive to point was adjudged clean after a tight review where stand-in third umpire Kim Cotton looked in two minds. When she finally felt Rana's hands were underneath the ball, it ended a stunning innings that comprised 21 fours and three sixes. It gave India a fleeting lift, but Perry's return and Garth's composure soon quashed any hopes of a late twist.

India would look back on their batting performance with mixed emotions. They displayed the kind of sustained aggression they've long spoken about but rarely executed, yet the recurring collapses would be worrisome for the team management. From 192 for 1 at the 30-over mark, they looked set for 350-plus but fell woefully short, as they failed to capitalise on a superb 155-run opening stand between Mandhana and Rawal.

After three ordinary outings, Mandhana returned to her fluent self, reaching fifty off 46 balls. Her six off Molineux made her the first woman to score 1000 or more ODI runs in a calendar year, and she later became the fastest to 5000 runs in the format. While Mandhana took on Molineux, Rawal targeted Gardner, though their partnership was interspersed with spells of caution - like the passage that produced just 15 in five overs after they finished the powerplay at 58 for 0.

This was largely down to Rawal's cautiousness. That forced Mandhana to take more risks, producing audacious shots like a ramp over Healy's head. Rawal's 69-ball half-century helped post the second-highest World Cup partnership by any side against Australia before Mandhana fell for 80.

Harleen Deol (38), Harmanpreet (22) and Jemimah Rodrigues (33) injected urgency unseen so far in this tournament but couldn't convert their starts. The burden of providing the late surge yet again fell on Richa Ghosh, whose 94 against South Africa had bailed India out earlier. Here, though, a Sutherland slower ball undid her, triggering a collapse from 309 for 6 to 330 all out.

Sutherland's clever changes of pace and length earned her a maiden ODI five-for and throttled India's momentum, leaving them disappointed at not making the most of the platform they had built so well.

The loss now leaves India without a win against South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia at a World Cup (50 overs and T20 included) for five years now. And with England up next in a week in Indore, they'll need to regroup quickly to keep pushing for the semi-finals.