India Women came up with a stunning five-wicket victory over Australia Women in the semifinal match of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 in the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on October 30. This win secured India a ticket to the final against South Africa to be held in the same venue on November 2. Interestingly, the previous occasion when Australia had lost a match in a world cup was also against India, during the 2017 semifinal.
Winning the toss, Australia started first and scored a huge number of 338 runs in 49.5 overs. Phoebe Litchfield scored an excellent 119 out of 93 balls and Ellyse Perry (77) along with Ashleigh Gardner (63) contributed significantly. In the case of India, Shree Charani performed well achieving great results of 2/49.
In the pursuit of the target, India lost both the openers in the initial stages, but Jemimah Rodrigues held the innings so well with the unbeaten 127 off 134 balls. She was assisted by Captain Harmanpreet Kaur who made a brilliant 89 off 88 and their partnership led to a match-winning contribution. Their work saw India get off a record hunt and terminate the 15 match winning streak of Australia in the Women World Cup.
1. India Women create history with record chase
India Women made history when it pursued 339 against Australia in Navi Mumbai; the highest successful run chase in the history of Women ODI. It was a sweet moment to India since Australia had earlier on the previous tournament held the record of chasing 331 against India. This victory also brought to an end the streak of 15 winning matches of Australia in Women world cups.
The previous remarkable successful pursuit of India was 265 against Australia in 2022, and this time was the first match to break their 26-match winning streak in ODIs. The victory in Navi Mumbai was also the inaugural case of a 300-plus chase in any World Cup knockout match (Men or Women), topping a 298-run chase by New Zealand in 2015 over South Africa.
2. India record the maximum in Women World cup.
The 5 against Australia by India Women on 341 is currently the highest score ever in any Women world cup match. This was their best score of 340 against 3, which they had done at the same venue against New Zealand earlier in the tournament. The fact that the DY Patil Stadium witnessed the same level of consistency indicates that India is becoming dominant in batting.
The 341 runs mark is also second highest by any team against Australia in Women ODI. It is interesting to note that India are also the leading contenders with their total of 369 runs in the bilateral series in Delhi.
3. Jemimah Rodrigues smashes a huge record of Smriti Mandhana.
The highest run chase by an Indian woman in an ODI is now Jemimah Rodrigues who had a winning 127 against Australia. In fact she defeated the 125 of Smriti Mandhana that was also against Australia. The composure and the relaxed manner in which Jemimah delivered this blow was in a semifinal under pressure, and thus, it was one of the best knocks in the history of Indian cricket.
The 25 year old is also only the second Indian batter, after Harmanpreet Kaur to score a hundred in a Women World Cup knockout game. Her 100 in pursuit during a World Cup knockout is also the second time in the world history of a 100 by a chaser after England Nat Sciver-Brunt.
4. Jemimah-Harmanpreet has the highest stand of the World Cup versus Australia.
The third wicket between Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur was a very crucial 167-run partnership that made history in the history of Women world cup; it was the highest partnership against Australia. Their relationship stabilized India when it lost the initial wickets and formed the basis of the chase.
This record superseded the previous one of 157 runs by Mithali Raj and Punam Raut in 2017. All in all, the union of Jemimah and Harmanpreet is among the top three against Australia in all the Women’s ODIs, and it is important to note that it helped India achieve the memorable win.
5. Phoebe Litchfield breaks massive record with ton
Phoebe Litchfield, an Australian batter had previously made history in the heroics of Jemimah by becoming the youngest player in the history of Women’s World Cup knockout in any game to score a century. The 119 she scored on 93 balls provided Australia with a good beginning and was keeping India on edge throughout the first half of the game.
Another hundred that was ever registered in a Women world cup knockout was Litchfield who had a hundred in only 77 balls. The last mark was shared by both Harmanpreet Kaur and Nat Sciver-Brunt who made their tons in 90 balls each.
