🏏ICC Women's World Cup 2025: Australia W vs India W, 2nd Semi-Final🏏 - Page 46

Congratulations to SA for their emphatic win against England W.

This is the first time that South Africa have qualified for an ODI World Cup final - Men's or Women's.

This is the third consecutive final for South Africa Women’s in World Cups (ODI+T20I combined). They reached the final in the last two T20 World Cup editions.

21:35 Local Time, 16:05 GMT, 21:35 IST: Third ICC final in a row for South Africa. They have buried the ghosts of the 2017 and 2022 World Cup semis and sunk England. Richly deserved too. And out comes Kapp from inside the dressing room, I can spot a tear or two on her face. What emotions and what moments as South Africa celebrate. Kapp and Wolvaardt the two guns in this team came to the party. One with the bat with an innings for the ages and then Kapp with the ball who took double wicket-maidens twice in the game to snuff out England's challenge. Her opening burst saw South Africa reduce England to 1/3 and from there it was an uphill task for the chasing side

Flexible Shafali Verma 'super ready' to bat in any position

A late replacement for the injured Rawal, Shafali has been given the freedom by the team management to play her natural game.

Is there anything Annabel Sutherland can't do?

Death-overs menace, middle-order rock, and a champion in crisis, the Australia allrounder has enjoyed a defining World Cup.

After Derby, Cape Town and Sharjah, what will Harmanpreet vs Australia bring us this time?

This relationship has always sent sparks flying in pivotal World Cup moments. What does Navi Mumbai have in store for us?

Tactics board: Mandhana's level-up, Sutherland's steady hand

India have exposed weaknesses in the Australian side before and they have to do it again in the second Women's World Cup semi-final.

🏏Australia Women vs India Women, 2nd Semi-Final🏏

Venue: Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai

A rainy Thursday in Derby eight years ago showcased two things: that Australia isn't unbeatable even in their most dominant streak, and what it takes to achieve that. Since that Harmanpreet Kaur-inspired embarrassment, Australia has remained unbeaten in ODI World Cups and India winless against all other semifinalists of the 2025 edition. But history has a way of tempting fate, and on what's shaping up to be another gloomy Thursday (October 30), India would be chasing the impossible once more.

Australia's numbers this World Cup cycle speak for themselves: a staggering 26-4 win-loss record (1 no-result) with only one defeat to India across nine games in three series. But zoom in to see how close India have been to challenging their invincibility in this decade alone. Australia needs no reminder that their historic 26-match winning streak was brought to a screeching halt, at home no less, by a plucky India. Most recently, Smriti Mandhana-led batting handed them their biggest loss in their ODI history. It isn't without reason that Alyssa Healy has labelled India as "sleeping giants."

But at the cusp of World Cup knockouts, all of those records, streaks, and tags fade into irrelevance.

1.20 PM, The sun is out, and it is a warm day in Mumbai. No rain and no possibility of any interruption.

It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for the defending champions as their reputation suggests. Two scrappy wins and a washout left them looking vulnerable before they rediscovered their rhythm, and skipper Healy's touch, ironically against India. For the hosts, it's been a rollercoaster of emotions with pressure and expectations only mounting. Their two streaky wins were followed by three stinging losses from winning positions - one apiece to the other semifinalists - and had their campaign hanging by a thread until they found solace in New Zealand's misery and on familiar turf.

India did get the advantage of inhabiting the ground - literally and figuratively - for the last 10 days. Yet, it's a venue Australia knows just as well, between WPL classics and Super Over thrillers in sold-out bilateral meetings. The switch to a different white-ball format at the venue also didn't take long for India - they produced a near-perfect game to rise above their challenges and secure the semis spot. Two days later, however, they no longer were in a position to retain that winning combination after a freak injury put a premature end to Pratika Rawal's campaign.

With that twist of fate emerged another narrative, of Shafali Verma's recall. The Haryana opener, who was left on the sidelines ahead of a home World Cup ironically due to Rawal's consistency, now finds herself at crossroads of redemption not just for herself, but perhaps for India too.

When: Thursday, October 30 at 3 PM IST

Where: DY Patil Cricket Stadium, Navi Mumbai

What to expect: The pitch marked for the game is the same one where Sri Lanka played Bangladesh right at the start of the Navi Mumbai leg, and looks set to be a batters' paradise. The rain forecast for the day has cleared up significantly.

Head-to-Head: Australia lead 49-11 in the 60-game rivalry, with a 11-3 record in World Cups. Australia have only lost two ODIs to India since the 2017 epic.

Australia are here with a clean slate. They have been pushed back multiple times during this World Cup, and they've found a way back each time. Two of their batters, Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner, have scored two centuries each. Two of their bowlers, Annabel Sutherland and Alana King, have taken more than ten wickets each. And apart from everything else that makes them such intimidating opponents, Australia have not lost an ODI knockout game since they lost to India in the the semi-finals of the 2017 World Cup.

India are riding a wave of emotion. They recovered from a three-game losing streak to sneak into the semi-finals. In their last full game, played at the same venue, they posted their record World Cup total. No team has pushed Australia harder than India in recent times. And they are now two wins away from doing what no India women's team has ever done.

Their key player Smriti Mandhana has scored 105, 58, 117, 125 and 80 in her last five ODIs against Australia. But she'll start from 0 again, and this time she'll have an adjustment to make, with her usual opening partner Pratika Rawal, with whom she added a record 212 against New Zealand, ruled out of the World Cup. Mandhana is all set to open with Shafali Verma, and the new combination could have an effect on how she bats.

In ODIs involving Shafali, Mandhana averages 51.83 and strikes at 85.55. When these two opened together, Shafali was usually the early aggressor. Mandhana took on that role when Shafali went out of the side, however, as her numbers in matches involving Rawal suggest: an average of 62.65, a strike rate of 108.75. How will the new (old) opening combination bat on Thursday?

Team News

India: Shafali for Rawal is a straight swap. Besides that, if the hosts can find a spot for Amanjot Kaur to return in the only change to the XI from their game against New Zealand they'll have their strongest XI on paper with adequate batting and bowling depth to challenge Australia.

Probable XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol/Amanjot Kaur, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Kranti Gaud, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur

Australia: The Australian captain opted out of an optional session on match eve. However, with Healy's return all but confirmed, the defending champions should revert to their first-choice XI - the one that beat India in the league game.

Probable XI: Alyssa Healy (c/wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Kim Garth, Alana King, Megan Schutt