After India won the toss and elected to bat, Australia struck in the second over with Ashleigh Gardner (2-25) removing Taniya Bhatia before Delissa Kimmince (2-42) removed the dangerous Jemimah Rodrigues shortly after.

The wickets continued to fall with Harmanpreet Kaur (43) being caught as Australia managed to stem the flow with Ellyse Perry claiming 3-16 in her 100th T20I and Megan Schutt claiming 1-30, India posted 8-167.

While Beth Mooney got Australia off to a fast start, two quick wickets soon had them on the back foot. 

As the pressure built, the wickets continued to tumble with Perry making the highest run contribution with 39 not out.

They say, 'when it rains, it pours' and for Australia that is what happened as they were bowled out for 119. 

"It was a disappointing result, India came at us hard with the bat and we were able to slow them down towards the end, which was a good effort," Australian captain Meg Lanning said.

"Unfortunately, with the bat we never got going.

"Plenty for us to think about before heading into the semi-finals," she said.

It is the first time that Australia have lost a T20 match since March this year, where they went down by 8 wickets to England in the Tri-Series in India.

The loss also saw another blow for the Australians with wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy set to race the clock in time to be fit for the semi-final on Thursday.

The 28-year-old suffered a mild concussion following a collision with teammate Megan Schutt and was forced from the field after they both attempted to take a high catch.

The loss means Australia will face the top-placed team in pool A, either the West Indies or England, in the first semi-final on Thursday.