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Can India beat Australia in Women's World Cup semifinal as Rawal’s absence, Healy’s return tilt the balance?
India face Australia in Women's ODI World Cup semi-final, with Australia unbeaten and India peaking at the right time.
India face Australia in the second semi-final of the Women’s ODI World Cup at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai today. Australia arrive unbeaten and fresh off a league-phase demotion of South Africa, powered by Alana King’s 7/18. On the other hand, India looks like a team that has peaked at the right time and are dreaming of defeating the invincible Aussies. (IND W vs AUS W LIVE SCORE)
IND W vs AUS W: Team news
Two huge updates from both sides matter first and foremost. India are without their in-form opener Pratika Rawal, who suffered a freak ankle injury during India’s last league-stage game. The selectors have brought in Shafali Verma back as a like-for-like top-order option.
Second, Alyssa Healy has passed her fitness test and is all set to make a comeback after she missed a couple of games due to calf strain. Even at 80-90%, her presence at the top promises to give the Aussies a huge moral boost. Also, not to forget the way she dominated the Indian attack the last time they met in the group stage fixture.
ALSO READ: Wolvaardt, Kapp destroy England to take South Africa to their first-ever Women's ODI World Cup final
Conditions and tactics
DY Patil typically rewards positive stroke-play early, and then offers grip for spinners. The par score on this deck hovers around 250-270. Notably, there is also a reserve day, hence, one can expect the better side to dominate the whole match and emerge victorious.
The strategy looks more or less straightforward for India: bat first, given that it is a knock-out game, post around 260-280 on the board, and then untangle your spinners. For Australia, they would look at their top-order to lay down a strong base and then want players like Gardner and Sutherland to unleash their fury.
Match-ups that will decide the game
- Spin wars: Alana King’s form will be a big threat. India need to plan around not giving wickets away to the leg spinner. Conversely, India’s spin department needs to win the middle-overs to keep the Aussie finishers from teeing away.
- Opening partnerships: With Rawal out and Shafali likely to play, India would look to maximise the powerplay while batting. Going on the offensive early in the innings would force Australia to bring in their spinners for early defence. On the other hand, Australia would bank on Healy, Litchfield giving them a good start on which players like Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney can build on. Ashleigh Gardner and Annabel Sutherland can then provide the finishing touches.
IND W vs AUS W: Win Probability
Australia are coming into the semi-final unbeaten, while India lost three matches in the league stage but currently have a good momentum. The head-to-head stats lie strongly in favour of the Australian side; however, one must also consider the home advantage for India. All these factors combined, the win probability lands in favour of Australia with a 62% chance of winning the game.
How India can flip it
- Mandhana and Verma need to give India a solid start. They need to show intent that startles the Aussies. An 80-90 run Powerplay start would be ideal and put the Aussies off their track.
- The spinners need to be spot on with their bowling. India’s biggest strength is their bank of quality spinners. So, this is the day when the spinners need to squeeze the runs in the middle-order and draw out important wickets.
- The biggest aspect would be to show discipline with the ball and on the field. The Indian bowlers need to cut out extras, and the fielders need to be proactive in converting even the half-chances.
On current form, Australia are the favourites. But at DY Patil, with Mandhana in rhythm and crowd cheering for them, India have a strong chance of beating the Aussies and proceeding to the summit clash to play South Africa on Sunday.
