Women's World Cup, India vs Australia: Semi-final preview and stats
What's the story
The highly-anticipated second semi-final of the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 will be played between India and Australia at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium on Thursday. India have had an emotional journey with ups and downs, while Australia being the most consistent side. Australia go into this contest with utmost confidence. They have two centuries each from Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner, while Annabel Sutherland and Alana King have taken over 10 wickets each. Here's more.
Team resilience
India's journey to the semi-finals
India's journey to the semi-finals has been an emotional one. They started with two scratchy wins. Thereafter, they suffered a three-match losing streak. India managed to turn things around and secure their spot in the last four. In their last full game at this venue, they posted a record World Cup total. Smriti Mandhana has been in great form against Australia in WODIs but will have to adapt as her usual opening partner Pratika Rawal is out of the tournament.
Captain's status
Will Healy play for Australia?
Australia is sweating over the availability of their captain Alyssa Healy. She missed two matches due to a minor calf strain. Georgia Voll was seen batting in partnership with Phoebe Litchfield during training, indicating she might be considered as a replacement if Healy is unavailable. However, she batted and kept wickets during Tuesday's training session but skipped optional training on Wednesday. Head coach Shelley Nitschke said they will give Healy "as much time as she needs" before deciding her participation on Thursday.
Team changes
India might make a few changes
Shafali Verma is likely to replace Rawal at the top of the order for India. Richa Ghosh, who was rested against Bangladesh after injuring her finger during the match against New Zealand, looked fine during her keeping drills and batted a fair bit on Tuesday. Sneh Rana and Kranti Gaud, both of whom were also rested against Bangladesh, could return to the XI for this crucial match.
Likely teams
India and Australia's probable XIs
AUS probable XI: Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Alana King, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt. IND probable XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Kranti Gaud, N Shree Charani, Renuka Singh.
Stats
A look at the key stats
As per ESPNcricinfo, Mandhana and Shafali have opened together 25 times in WODIs. They have added 893 partnership runs at an average of 37.20 and a run rate of 5.38. Australia are on a 15-match winning streak in the ICC Women's World Cup. Aussie pacer Megan Schutt is one wicket away from becoming the leading wicket-taker for Australia in WODI World Cups. She owns 39 wickets at the moment.
Information
Australia chase their 50th victory over India in WODIs
The two teams have met each other 60 times in WODIs. The Aussie Women have won 49 matches to India's 11. If Australia win this contest, this will be their 50th victory over India.