ICC Women's World Cup: India face heavyweights Australia in Vizag
What's the story
The highly anticipated clash between India and Australia in the Women's ODI World Cup 2025 is all set to take place on Sunday at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam. As per ESPNcricinfo, the stadium, which has a capacity of nearly 26,000, is expected to break the record for highest attendance at an ICC women's T20I or ODI World Cup league match. Here are the details.
Team struggles
India need to work on their fielding and left-arm spinners
As the tournament nears its halfway mark, India have their work cut out. India lost points after failing to contain South Africa despite having five bowlers and batting-friendly conditions on their side. Their top order, especially veterans Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Jemimah Rodrigues has yet to deliver. The team has also struggled with fielding and left-arm spinners have been a major cause of dismissals in this tournament.
Match history
Australia have shown resilience despite recent collapses
Despite their recent collapses, Australia have shown resilience with Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney scoring centuries in tough situations. However, they were bowled out for 190 in the second game of their recent bilateral series against India. In previous high-pressure T20 matches against Australia - Commonwealth Games 2022 final, 2023 T20 World Cup semi-final, and last year's T20 World Cup league match - India did come close but an all-round top-class performance is needed to beat them in ODIs.
Player focus
Key players to watch out for
Tahlia McGrath has been a key contributor for Australia despite batting at No. 7. However, she hasn't scored much in recent outings. Harmanpreet, the star of India's historic 2017 semi-final win over Australia, will be under pressure to deliver after low scores in this campaign. India are likely to consider bolstering their five-bowler attack but that would mean dropping a batter due to their stuttering batting performance.
Teams
A look at the probable XIs
India likely XI: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani. Australia likely XI: Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahila McGrath, Georgia Wareham/Sophie Molineux, Kim Garth, Alana King, Megan Schutt.
Stats
A look at the key stats
From 111 matches, Mandhana has bagged 4,942 runs at 47.06. She is 58 shy of the 5,000-run mark. She owns 13 tons and 32 fifties. In 160 matches, Ellyse Perry has bagged 4,367 runs at 48.52. Versus India, she owns 864 runs from 30 matches at 43.20 (100s: 1, 50s: 7). All-rounder Deepti Sharma has taken 147 wickets at 28.10. She is three shy of 150 wickets. Australia's Megan Schutt has picked 142 wickets from 103 matches at 23.53.
Information
Here's the H2H record
India and Australia have met 59 times in WODIs. India have won 11 matches compared to Australia's 48. The two teams have faced 13 times in Women's World Cup. India have won three games to Australia's 10.