ICC Women's World Cup 2025: In a stunning display of skill and determination, India scripted history today by defeating Australia in the semi-final of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, pulling off the highest successful run chase in tournament history and handing the defending champions their first-ever loss in a World Cup match since 2017. Incidentally, Australia’s last World Cup defeat had also come at India’s hands — in the 2017 semifinal in Derby.
Chasing a daunting target of 339, India finished with 341 for 5, storming into the final for the third time after memorable campaigns in 2005 and 2017. The win also snapped Australia’s 15-match winning streak in World Cups, a record that stretched back to 2022.
Leading the charge was Jemimah Rodrigues, who produced an unbeaten masterclass of 127 not out, while captain Harmanpreet Kaur anchored the innings with a brilliant 89. Their partnership not only stabilized the chase but also transformed it into one of the most memorable victories in Indian cricket history.
Earlier, Australia had posted 338 all out in 49.5 overs, setting what seemed an insurmountable target in a knockout fixture. But India’s batters defied all odds, rewriting records in the process.
This was the first time in Women’s ODI World Cup history that a 300-plus total was successfully chased down — and the first instance across both Men’s and Women’s ODI World Cups where such a chase was achieved in a knockout game. The previous highest successful chase in a World Cup semifinal or final was 298 by New Zealand against South Africa in the 2015 Men’s CWC semifinal.
Before today, India had never chased a 200-plus total in a Women’s ODI World Cup. The only previous successful chase of that scale in a women’s knockout came when England (219) defeated South Africa in the 2017 semifinal at Bristol. India’s 341/5 also ranks as the second-highest total in a Women’s ODI run chase, just behind their 369 all out against Australia in Delhi last month.
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This match also produced the highest-ever match aggregate in Women’s ODIs — 781 runs — surpassing all previous records. Rodrigues’ century made her only the second batter ever to score a hundred in a World Cup knockout chase, after Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 148 in the 2022 final.
With this victory, India have booked their spot in the final against South Africa, eyeing their maiden World Cup title, as a team that has not just beaten the best, but done so in record-breaking style.
