The stakes are high today at the India vs. Australia duel in the 13th match of the Women’s World Cup 2025. Under captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s leadership, India must make a strong comeback after their disappointing loss in the previous match against South Africa which dropped down to No. 3 in the points table. Meanwhile, the Australian team sitting at no. 2 will try to add another win and take the top spot in the table.
All 15,087 tickets have been sold out for the India vs. Australia match to be held at the ACA-VDCA Stadium. The match will break records for having the highest number of audiences at an ICC Women’s World Cup match.
India Women
The middle-order batter and spin bowler need to step up, unlike last match. The trio of senior batters, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet, and Jemimah Rodrigues, have to bring in their experience out on the field and lead the way. Bowlers Kranti Goud, Deepti Sharma, and Sneh Rana have to play the all-rounder role well in case things don’t go right.
All eyes will be on Mandhana, who played extremely well against the Australian bowlers in the three-match WODI series, scoring 300 runs in three innings, including two centuries and a half-century. Bowler Kranti Gourd, who picked up five wickets against Australia, is also on the lookout to bring in the same style. Despite Australia winning the series by 2-1, the Indian women’s team put up a great fight, which is expected of them even today.
Australia Women
The Indian bowlers need to be careful when playing against Beth Mooney, who produced a brilliant century in the last match against Pakistan. Captain Alyssa Healy will look to contribute for the team with the bat and by making decisions on the field. All-rounders Alana King and Tahlia McGrath will be crucial to the team when under pressure.
Kim Garth will be expected to provide another brilliant strike like the last game against Pakistan, where she picked up three wickets, giving away just 14 runs. Spin bowler Sophie Molineux can be a threat to the Indian batters who have struggled to score against spinners in the tournament.
Sneh Rana: “We have the best batters of the world”
Ahead of the Australia clash, India Women’s all-rounder Rana, during a pre-match interview, discussed her team batters struggling to score against spinners and is hopeful for a strong comeback against Australia.
Rana said, “I don’t think it’s a major concern because our batters have handled these situations very well in the past. Ups and downs are part of the game, they can happen anytime. But as we all know we have the best batters of the world in our team on our side and it’s just a matter of one knock or and I am hopeful they will bounce back very soon.”
Alyssa Healy: “We’re gonna have to work hard”
Australia’s women’s captain Healy feels that while the Indian team has a home-ground advantage, the threat lies in succeeding and winning every match in the tournament. So far the Australian team has won both the matches played so far.
Healy said: “Yeah, look, them in their home conditions are obviously going to play really well and be a real threat but as we’ve seen throughout this World Cup, so far, there’s lots of teams that are pushing everybody. So, I wouldn’t probably say there’s one team that’s our main threat, but we know we’re gonna have to work hard in every fixture to get our result and that’s the way a World Cup should be.”
