Australia scored an amazing come from behind victory against the host nation India, winning by three wickets. This epic showdown was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, as a part of ICC Women’s World Cup 2025. The victory kept Australia’s undefeated run through the tournament alive and demonstrated both their batting depth and ruthless tournament style.
Australian keeper Alyssa Healy was the clear-cut star of the match. She hit one of the greatest centuries ever scored and batted Australia to a record chase of 331 runs. The Australian women faced stiff competition from India’s middle and lower-middle order, who contributed significantly to their team’s total of 328. Ellyse Perry’s stand-out display was capped by a six that brought the match down in Australia’s favour.
Match Overview and Key Performances
The match began with India batting first, setting a formidable target for Australia. The team displayed an extraordinary level of resolve. Excellent knocks from Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh and Amanjot Kaur ensured India crossed the 300-run mark. Smriti Mandhana particularly lit up her innings with three sixes and nine fours. Her explosive performance further put the foundation strong for India.
In reply, Australia set themselves the monumental task of chasing down 331 runs—a record run-chase target for the Aussie team. Alyssa Healy led the charge with a fireworks display of an innings, smashing 142 off 107 balls. She pounded three sixes and a Tournament Record 21 fours in the process. Healy’s stirring performance on and off the pitch was key in helping Australia over the line as World Champions. What stood out was her capacity to navigate pressure in key moments.
Ellyse Perry has been pretty darn hot imaginaryfrienddotjpg.jpeg She has recently broken a record by becoming the fastest player in women’s One Day Internationals (ODIs) to score 5,000 runs in a mere 112 innings. Perry sustained an undisclosed injury that led her to retire hurt. In truth, it was Ms Taylor’s earlier interventions that were key to preventing Australia from straying too far from the very high bar.
Critical Moments of the Game
With each passing wicket, their patience and technique won out as their batting order showed real steel in themselves. Throughout it all, they never lost their focus when dealing with adversity, most notably losing Perry for the season to injury. The partnership between Perry and Kim Garth was particularly noteworthy as they kept the run chase alive during crucial overs.
Harmanpreet Kaur, India’s captain, admitted her side struggled in the final 10 overs of their innings. She reiterated that hitting the ball badly in those last six overs was what really undid them on the day.
“We knew it was a good batting wicket, but not batting well in the last six overs cost us,” – Harmanpreet Kaur
Kaur underlined a new found importance placed on middle-order batting. She lamented that this has been an ongoing theme in the last few games.
“The openers have been outstanding, but in the last three games, we were not able to bat in the middle overs,” – Harmanpreet Kaur
Australia’s next match is against Bangladesh at the same venue on Thursday. At the same time, India will have a chance to renew their campaign after a week-long rest, when they welcome England to Indore on Sunday.
Looking Ahead
With this win under their belt, Australia further cements themselves as serious contenders in this Women’s World Cup. Their talent to hunt down big targets demonstrates their richness in hitting and intentionality in play.
Both sides are looking back on this match-up with fondness. They know that maintaining fitness levels and addressing areas of weakness will be important as they head into their next matches.
“To chase down 330 in a 50-over game is new territory for us,” – Harmanpreet Kaur
