For the third time in the Quadrangular tournament India lost a match because of poor fielding and missed run-out chances. This time the clumsiness on the field cost them a place in the final of the Quadrangular tournament in Chennai.

With 47 runs to get off 43 balls and only four wickets in hand, Australia got to victory off the last ball as Cathryn Fitzpatrick and Jodie Purves exploited the nervousness of the Indian fielders and took singles and twos with ease.

India had looked sharp in the field in the first half of the Australian innings as the players made an effort to dive and save runs. Mithali Raj, the Indian captain, admitted that the fielding had let them down once again. "We came back well in our fielding from the other day against New Zealand where it was absolutely pathetic," Raj told Cricinfo. "But towards the end when they needed a-run-a-ball we missed some run out chances. The bowling was bad too and we had a lot of misfields."

Fitzpatrick acknowledged the fact that Australia were greatly helped by the Indian fielders' shoddy work. "With the run-out chances missed we knew that at a-run-a-ball we could do it," she said.

But Raj added that there had been many positives for India from the tournament. "In the matches that we won, the victory came through a team effort," she said. "The openers gave us a very good start and are looking in fine form."

She was happy with the way the tournament had panned out though it was disappointing not to play in the final. "Every team is scoring more than 200. This is a change for us in women's cricket where a total of 200 used to be a defendable score," she said. "But now a team has to score between 200 and 250 to have a chance to win. A Quadrangular tournament like this improves every team's performance. All four teams are of top quality and people get to see some really good cricket."

Melissa Bulow, the Australian opener, who set up the win against India with her career-best 85 said that Jhulan Goswami and Rumeli Dhar, India's opening bowling pair, had worried the Australians. "We had studied them before and had a plan of attack against them today. They tend to bowl a lot of dot balls." Bulow said. "Our plan was to just play straight and hit through the areas we had practiced hitting through."

Australia will play New Zealand in the final while India will take on England for a third place play-off on March 5.