Australia has battled to a win in a warm-up match for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, beating India by 44 runs in a low-scoring clash in Cape Town.

The defending champions could only manage 8-129 from their 20 overs on a worn Newlands pitch, but bowled India out for a paltry 85 to secure victory.

Perhaps the best news for the Aussies was the partial return of Alyssa Healy, who is continuing her comeback from a calf injury suffered in India in December.

Healy did not bat but she kept wickets in the match, with both teams carrying extra players on the bench to give as many people a hit-out as possible ahead of the tournament proper getting underway on Saturday morning (AEDT).

The warm-up match did not start well for Australia, which lost 3-10 in the first four overs, with captain Meg Lanning (0), ICC T20 player of the year Tahlia McGrath (2) and star all-rounder Ellyse Perry (1) all back in the sheds.

But opener Beth Mooney and Ash Gardner put on 44 runs for the fourth wicket to somewhat stabilise the innings.

Another flurry of wickets came after Gardner was removed by Pooja Vastrakar, with Australia losing 4-25 in six overs, before bowlers Jess Jonassen and Georgia Wareham put together the biggest partnership of the day for the ninth wicket.