Australia beat India by three wickets in Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 | Cricket news

It was a run chase set up by an Alyssa Healy century and concluded by an Ellyse Perry six as Australia beat India by three wickets to remain unbeaten in the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup.

Facing a record chasing target of 331, the Australia captain took on the Indian bowlers from the start to build the perfect foundation for her side, with an injured Perry returning to bat to complete the job 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 epic 107-ball innings of 142.

Litchfield and their skipper shared a partnership of 85 before the left-handed batsman was dismissed for 40 off 39 balls in the 12th over by slow left-arm bowler Shri Sharani.

However, Healy continued to move forward, building another partnership with the all-rounder Ellyse Perry. The duo took Australia to 154 in the 25th over, when Perry retired hurt after suffering an undisclosed injury.

India seized the opportunity and were quick to dismiss the in-form Beth Mooney for four, followed by Annabel Sutherland for zero in successive innings of 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 trouble and caused several problems for India skipper 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. The ball cut back to point, where a diving Sneh Rana picked it up which had to be checked again with the TV umpire.

However, even with Healy out, Australia looked in control of the run chase. Then three quick wickets in the next six overs brought India back into the match.

When Australia were down by seven wickets, Perry returned to the field, despite his mobility being hampered.

The veteran combined with Kim Garth to keep the goal within reach and finally sealed the win with a trademark six over the player’s head to ensure the seven-time champions remained unbeaten in the tournament.

Unsurprisingly, Healy was named player of the match and credited the team with chasing the overall record.

“Chasing 330 in a 50-over match is new territory for us,” she said in her post-match comments. “Hopefully we won’t have to do this again.”

Kaur blames poor batting at the end of the innings

India suffered their second successive defeat in three days, leaving a lot to think about for skipper Kaur, who blamed the loss on India’s poor batting in the last few matches.

“We knew it was a good wicket, but not batting well in the last six overs cost us,” she said after the match.

“The opener was great, but in the last three games, we couldn’t bat down the middle.”

The result helped the defending champions return to the top of the points table with seven points from their four matches, while India remained unchanged in third place despite losing in their second match in the tournament.

England ranks second with six points, and South Africa is fourth with four points.

The top four teams in the eight-nation tournament qualify for the semi-finals.

Mandhana breaks more records

Earlier, Indian star Smriti Mandhana overcame her low-scoring start to the tournament by hitting a 66-ball 80 in a 155-run opening partnership with Pratika Rawal, who contributed 75 runs off 96 balls.

Mandhana, who was only 23 in her previous three World Cup innings, broke the shackles when she hit three sixes and nine fours in her dominant innings. In the process, she became the fastest player to reach 5,000 runs in women’s ODIs, having achieved the feat in 112 innings.

It was an arduous effort that led to her undoing in the 25th over, when she was caught deep off the bowling of left-arm pacer Sophie Molyneux.

Despite the loss of the vice-captain, India continued their brisk scoring fashion as Harleen Deol joined Rawal and the big shots resumed where Mandhana left off.

However, Rawal was dismissed in the 31st over by Sutherland, and again, it was a powerful shot attempt that led to a dismissal with a thud. India captain Kaur, who was also looking for runs in the tournament, immediately attacked the bowling but was soon dismissed for 22 by Megan Schutt.

The rest of India’s middle and lower order kept the scoring rate high as Jemima Rodrigues (33), Richa Ghosh (32) and Amanjot Kaur (16) helped India cross the 300-run mark.

Sutherland did 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 return match.

Australia face Bangladesh at the same venue on Thursday, while India resume their campaign after a week-long hiatus when they host England in Indore on Sunday.