It was a run chase set up by an Alyssa Healy century and sealed with an Ellyse Perry six as Australia beat India by three wickets to remain undefeated in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025.
Facing a record run-chase target of 331, Australia’s captain took on the Indian bowlers from the start to build the perfect foundation for her team, and an injured Perry returned to bat to complete the task against the hosts at the YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
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Healy, who opened the innings alongside Phoebe Litchfield, took on the role of the aggressor as she hit three sixes and 21 fours in her 107-ball epic innings of 142.
Litchfield and her captain shared a partnership of 85 before the left-handed batter was dismissed for 40 off 39 balls in the 12th over by slow left-arm bowler Shree Charani.
Healy kept going, though, and built another partnership with experienced all-rounder Ellyse Perry. The pair took Australia to 154 in the 25th over, when Perry retired hurt after suffering an undisclosed injury.
India pounced on the opportunity and were quick to dismiss in-form Beth Mooney for four, followed by Annabel Sutherland for zero in successive overs of spin bowling by Deepti Sharma and Charani.
The fall of wickets did little to slow down Healy, who ensured Australia kept up with the required run rate as she found gaps with little problem and caused several issues for India’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
She completed her century off 84 balls in the 31st over and went on to add 56 runs before falling to a soft dismissal off Charani’s bowling. She sliced a ball to point, where a diving Sneh Rana took a catch that had to be double-checked with the television umpire.
However, even as Healy walked off, Australia seemed in control of the run chase. Then three quick wickets in the next six overs brought India back into the match.
When Australia went seven wickets down, Perry walked back onto the field, although with hindered mobility.
The veteran all-rounder combined with Kim Garth to keep the target within reach and finally sealed the win with a trademark six over the bowler’s head to ensure the seven-time champions remain unbeaten in the tournament.
Unsurprisingly, Healy was named player of the match and credited the team for chasing the record total.
“To chase down 330 in a 50-over game is new territory for us,” she said in her post-match comments. “Hopefully, we don’t have to do it again.”
Kaur blames poor end-of-innings batting
India suffered their second consecutive defeat in three days, leaving plenty to ponder for captain Kaur, who blamed the loss on India’s poor batting in the last few overs.
“We knew it was a good batting wicket, but not batting well in the last six overs cost us,” she said after the match.
“The openers have been outstanding, but in the last three games, we were not able to bat in the middle overs.”
The result helped the defending champions return to the top of the points table with seven from their four matches, while India remain unmoved in third despite losing their second match of the tournament.
England are second with six points, and South Africa fourth with four.
The top four teams in the eight-nation tournament will qualify for the semifinals.
Mandhana breaks more records
Earlier, India’s star batter Smriti Mandhana brushed off her low-scoring start to the tournament by hitting a 66-ball 80 in a 155-run opening partnership with Pratika Rawal, who contributed with 75 runs off 96 balls.
Mandhana, who had not gone past 23 in her previous three innings in the World Cup, broke the shackles as she hit three sixes and nine fours in her dominant innings. In the process, she became the fastest player to 5,000 runs in women’s ODIs, having achieved the feat in 112 innings.
It was an attempted slog that became her undoing in the 25th over, when she was caught in deep off the bowling of left-arm spin bowler Sophie Molineux.
Despite the vice-captain’s loss, India continued in their swift-scoring ways as Harleen Deol joined Rawal and resumed the big shots where Mandhana had left off.
However, Rawal was dismissed in the 31st over by Sutherland, and once again, it was an attempted big shot that led to the dismissal at fine leg. India’s captain Kaur, who has also been in search of runs in the tournament, attacked the bowling straight away but was soon dismissed for 22 by Megan Schutt.
The rest of India’s middle and lower-middle order kept the scoring rate up as Jemimah Rodrigues (33), Richa Ghosh (32) and Amanjot Kaur (16) helped India cross the 300-run mark.
Sutherland caused some late damage to help bowl out the hosts for 330 in 48.5 overs and finished with a five-wicket haul.
Molineux finished with 3-75 in her comeback game.
Australia face Bangladesh at the same venue on Thursday, while India resume their campaign after a week-long break when they host England in Indore on Sunday.
