ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 | Semi-final 2: India vs Australia | Preview and Predictions

The second semi-final of the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup has defending champions Australia facing off against hosts India.

Alyssa Healy & Co will be looking to make it to yet another final in their quest to retain the World Cup crown, while India are aiming to exact revenge and take down their biggest rivals.

For this game, here we present our preview and predictions.

ICC Women’s CWC 2025 | Semi-final 2: IND vs AUS | 15:00 IST, October 30

Undefeated in the league stage, the biggest tournament favourites, and the biggest of thorns in the Indian side in recent World Cup history, Australia come into the semi-final as overwhelming favourites — and it’s not for no reason.

Captain Healy has been leading from the front with the bat at the top of the order, with Phoebe Litchfield playing the perfect foil as her opening partner. When Healy’s injury ruled her out for the last couple of games, young Litchfield took up the responsibility of getting the innings going at the top. Down the order, Beth Mooney remains ever reliant, while Ashleigh Gardner has been having a stellar tournament with the bat as well. Australia bat deep, with Tahlia McGrath coming in at No. 7, and while the batting unit has looked in good touch, Australia will hope that their star all-rounder Ellyse Perry gets some runs under her belt, having had an underwhelming tournament by her very high standards.

With the ball, Megan Schutt and Kim Garth have been miserly at the top, while Alana King has been in total control in the middle overs. King, as well as the likes of Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux, and Gardner, have been clinical in the middle and death overs, helping the team put up strong bowling performances regularly.

India, on the other side, have stumbled their way into the knockouts after arresting a three-game losing streak with a big win against New Zealand. Harmanpreet Kaur & Co have had a mixed tournament so far, but they know that the knockout stages make for a different ball game altogether.

India head into the semi-finals with their opener Pratika Rawal ruled out due to injury, with Shafali Verma filling in. Rawal will be a major miss, as she was in good form and helped the team get good starts at the top. Her partner, Smriti Mandhana, has also been among the runs, but the lack of runs from India’s middle and lower orders will be a concern for captain Kaur and the management. Barring a 94 from Richa Ghosh against South Africa and a 50 from Deepti Sharma against England, there have been few significant contributions down the order. In a knockout game, if the top order does not fire, there will be immense pressure on the rest of the Indian batting unit.

Renuka Singh’s inclusion in the squad has brought about some freshness and sting into India’s bowling attack. While Singh and Kranti Gaud have been economical up front, the rest of the bowling unit have chipped in regularly as well, providing Kaur with a host of options. Against an explosive and lengthy Australian batting line-up, Kaur will expect her bowlers to be more clinical than they were last time out against the Australians in Match 13, where the defending champions chased 331 with relative ease.

The DY Patil ground in Navi Mumbai has shown that there are plenty of runs on offer, but the track is known to slow down as the game progresses, bringing the slower bowlers into play. The Indian spinners had a strong outing last time out during their washed-out game against Bangladesh, and yet, even though the Women in Blue have found some late form and momentum, we still back Australia as the favourites for this semi-final encounter. Given Alyssa Healy’s injury, as well as the Aussies not being as ruthless as they’ve been in the past, India will have the chance to make this a close game, but the defending champions still boast both a stronger squad on paper and better tournament form.

Fantasy XI: Phoebe Litchfield, Smriti Mandhana, Beth Mooney, Harmanpreet Kaur, Ellyse Perry (vc), Ashleigh Gardner, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma (c), Annabel Sutherland, Renuka Singh, Alana King

Venue: Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai
Winners Prediction: Australia