DHAKA, Bangladesh (CMC):

West Indies Women's captain Merissa Aguilleira has described her side's semi-final loss to Australia as ;heartbreaking; but says the team must use the disappointment as a learning moment and try to bounce back.

The Caribbean side limited the defending champions to 140 for five from their 20 overs, but then came up short by eight runs at the Shere Bangla Stadium. It was the third straight occasion the Windies Women had reached a T20 World Cup semi-final before losing.

"I wouldn't say it is a setback. There's still faith and you need faith to get to the next level. After coming back from [the tour of] New Zealand, it was a really hard tournament down there, and we knew we needed something we could hold on to and faith is something we had going for us," said Aguilleira.

"We came here and we played good cricket and it was a bit heartbreaking that we couldn't carry it on to the next level. There's a lot of faith still in us and we believe in ourselves and we believe in our ability and that we're going to come back and come back stronger."

Winning the toss and batting, Australia were staring at an ordinary total at 99 for five at the end of the 16th over, before Alyssa Healy's breezy, unbeaten 30 from 21 balls, gave them impetus at the end.

Opener Elyse Villani had earlier top-scored with 35 from 32 balls while captain Meg Lanning got 29 from 22 deliveries.

"Coming in here we knew we were playing the World champs so they weren't going to give up their position just like that. We knew it would have been a tough game. Australia have been top of the table form ever since and we are pretty much developing," Aguilleira pointed out.