Who: India vs Australia
Content: ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 Group Stage
When: Sunday, October 12th, 3pm (9:30pm GMT)
Location: Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, India
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sports will have live coverage from 07:00 GMT, before a text commentary stream of the match.
India will be hoping for a quick return to the winning side as they face defending champions Australia in a close encounter on Sunday in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.
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Both teams started the tournament as favorites to win, but Australia, the record seven-time world champions and the only undefeated team after the first three group stage matches, holds a decided advantage going into this match.
Meanwhile, South Africa pulled off a stunning come-from-behind victory on Thursday, handing India their first World Cup defeat.
All 15,087 tickets for the much-anticipated match were sold out earlier this week, showing huge interest in what is currently regarded as one of women’s cricket’s top rivalries.
India-Australia conflict ‘continues to escalate’
Australia captain Alyssa Healy admitted interest in the Australia-India rivalry “continues to grow” and said Australia would be playing against the “sleeping giant” of women’s cricket.
“They (India) have been the sleeping giants of women’s competition for a long time,” Healy said on Saturday.
The wicketkeeper-batsman highlighted the role of the Women’s Premier League T20 franchise tournament in helping India discover talent and find a style of play that suits them.
Australia have never lost in the tournament but have bounced back from a shaky situation to record two wins from the two games they have finished.
“You’re going to be forced into unfamiliar situations and sometimes against unfamiliar opponents,” Healy explained.
When asked to comment on Australia’s poor batting performance against Pakistan on Wednesday, she said: “You’re allowed to lose cricket matches and you’re allowed to be under pressure in the World Cup. And I’m really behind the depth in the team.”
“Fortunately, it was a different person each time who raised his hand and said, ‘Yes, we have this, we can take it to the total, or we can take wickets and limit the team’.”
Despite India’s unparalleled record in women’s cricket, Healy said India would be a “real threat” if they played on their own terms.
India goes beyond losses
Indian all-rounder Sune Rana believes his team can bounce back quickly after the loss to South Africa. This is because the team focuses on the next task without worrying about losing.
“We regrouped the team, studied the game, planned ways to improve, stay positive and look forward to the next game,” Rana said on the eve of the match against Australia.
She termed Australia as “one of the strongest competitors” but was quick to highlight the fact that India have defeated world champions in the (2017) World Cup and recent bilateral series.
One of the main concerns for the hosts will be the lack of big runs from top-class batsman Smriti Mandhana.
The left-handed opener scored a world record 972 runs in the 2025 Women’s One-Day International (ODI), but her highest score in the tournament was only 23.
In fact, so far India’s top batsman is not among the top five run-scorers in the tournament, with wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh in fourth place with 131 runs.
But Lana said the team is not worried about the lack of scoring from the top.
“We have some of the best batsmen in the world. (Until they score) it’s just a matter of one good knock.”
India vs Australia: Head-to-head ODI
India and Australia have faced each other in 59 ODIs, even though women’s international matches have been relatively infrequent over the past few decades.
In terms of head-to-head results, Australia has an overwhelming 48 wins and India has won 11.
Form Guide: India
The hosts won comprehensively in their first two matches of the World Cup, but suffered a crushing defeat against South Africa. Their form before the tournament was mixed, losing the series at home to Australia and winning the series away to England.
Last 5 matches (latest results first): LWWLW
Form Guide: Australia
Australia won two of their three World Cup matches, but their match against Sri Lanka was canceled due to bad weather.
Barring one loss against India in September, Australia have not lost an ODI since September 2024.
Last 5 matches (latest results first): WWWWW
Team News: India
India may want to replace the spinner with a pace bowler, in which case Shree Chalani could replace Renuka Singh Thakur.
Predicted 11: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Jemima Rodriguez, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Amanjot Kaur, Sune Rana, Kranti Goud, Shree Chalani/Renuka Singh Thakur.
Team News: Australia
Australia have been linked with the return of Sophie Molyneux, who could replace Georgia Wareham.
Expected eleven: Alyssa Healy (captain, wicketkeeper), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashley Gardner, Talia McGrath, Georgia Wareham/Sophie Molyneux, Kim Garth, Alana King, Megan Schutt.
