Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025: Numbers behind Australia’s brilliance and how India, England & South Africa compare
Despite losing three matches in the group stages, their semi-final opponents India feel they have the best chance of beating them after scoring 330 against them in their group stage matches, falling at least 20 runs short.
They also became the last team to beat Australia in an ODI in the pre-World Cup series, which Healy’s team won 2-1, and the home crowd is likely to be in their favour.
It makes for an intriguing batting matchup. Similarly, India have a very strong opening partnership with Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal averaging 82.8, but Pratika Rawal’s run into the semi-finals may be in doubt after she suffered knee and ankle injuries on the field against Bangladesh.
They also have strong batting depth but it has cost them in the bowling department, which could be the difference. India, who have fewer all-rounders, have mostly opted for extra batsmen and five bowlers, but this has seen Australia chase down 330 with relative ease, so they are still looking for the right balance with their XI.
For England, they outplay their opponents with the ball in both the powerplay and death overs, while their spin attack has taken the second most wickets (37) and has the second best average (19.2).
However, they are well behind with the bat, with strike rates of 85.8 and 74 against pace and spin respectively; They struggle especially in the middle overs, where they score 4.55 points with an average of 34 points.
South Africa, meanwhile, have the best powerplay bowling record in terms of economy and this could be good competition given Australia’s top-order strength.
They also have the best batting record among the over-41-50s, thanks to Nadine de Klerk’s powerful batting in the lower order in clutch chases against India and Bangladesh. They average 53 at 41-50, with the next best being Australia at 31.3.
But a big element of the challenge against Australia is not something that can be conveyed in statistics; It comes from the mental game.
Whoever beats them knows they will have to deliver a near-perfect performance under maximum pressure, and even then they may still be relying on Australia to make a few mistakes of their own.
Speaking of which, Australia’s mistakes on the field are rare; They take almost 77% of their catches, which puts them in second place in the tournament.
They are behind England, who top the catching charts with almost 83% efficiency after much criticism over fielding standards and fitness in recent years.
