Key events
19th over: India 116-2 ( Jemimah 48, Kaur 23) After three more dot balls, Jemimah glides Molineaux for a tasty four, then forces Harmanpreet into a tight single.
18th over: India 111-2 ( Jemimah 43, Kaur 23) King offers Harmanpreet a juicy full toss, and she leans in and tonks it through mid-on for a needed boundary – but those are the only runs from the over. Jemimah watches and waits from the non-striker’s end, the shadows from the bars of her helmet dancing on her neck.
17th over: India 107-2 ( Jemimah 43, Kaur 19) Molineaux replaces Sutherland. Starts with a wide that passes Harmanpreet’s bat and Healy’s gloves and zips down to the rope. Nice running brings three singles, but the run-rate has crept up to 7.21.
17th over: India 99-2 ( Jemimah 42, Kaur 17) King with the ball, and it is starting to rain in Navi Mumbai, umbrellas upa nd cagouls on around the ground. India hitting the ball nicely but finding the fielders. King calls for a towel to dry the ball.
16th over: India 94-2 ( Jemimah 39, Kaur 16) Sutherland resumes, Jemimah scoops, but only for a single. But Harmapreet does make the rope, tonked through mid-on with style.
15th over: India 88-2 ( Jemimah 38, Kaur 10) Alana King, fresh from 7-18 against South Africa, gets her first bowl. Harmanpreet doesn’t look entirely at ease, gets the ball stuck somewhere in her pad from the last ball, and Healy scrambles for a stumping. They take drinks, with India still in it – just.
14th over: India 83-2 ( Jemimah 36, Kaur 7) Sutherland’s first ball is tattied away through backwards point for four by Jemimah. And then Harmapreet, who has been slow off the mark, gets her first boundary with four flashed past a diving extra cover. At the same point in their innings, Australia were 89-1.
“Well I looked up Chip Butty now,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “The humble vada pav is loaded with history. This was introduced during the textile mill boom years of Bombay when the workers needed to eat something quickly without a need to wash their hands later. A Pav (a special kind of bread) the fried potato filled vada and dry garlic chutney combination was easy on the purse, tasty on the palette and clean on the hands.”
Fabulous history lesson – thank you! Also, I need to try one.
13th over: India 74-2 ( Jemimah 31, Kaur 3) Molineux again, low pony tail, delicate gold hoop earrings. Just a single from it.
12th over: India 73-2 ( Jemimah 30, Kaur 3) A double change as Sutherland is thrown the ball. Her first ball is a full toss and Jemimah makes merry – three more singles to ensure that India are not falling too far behind on the run rate.
11th over: India 66-2 ( Jemimah 24, Kaur 2) Healy turns to Molineux. Jemimah slips over in the middle but scrambles back in time. Molineaux drops short and Jemimah licks her lips, sways and and shimmies her away for four.
10th over: India 60-2 ( Jemimah 19, Kaur 1) Garth’s first ball is caressed once more through the covers for four by Smriti, but she gets her reward, from a dud of a ball but a hell of a review by Healy. The stadium balloon deflates a little more.
WICKET! Smriti c Healy b Garth 24 (India 59-2)
Silence at Navi Mumbai as Smriti – motoring – is given out on review. An eyelash of a spike on Ultra Edge – strangled down the leg side off a wide. Smriti can’t believe it, shakes her head as she shuffles off.
9th over: India 55-1 ( Smriti 20, Jemimah 19) Gardner gets a go. Exquisite from Jemimah, a gem of a cover drive thrilling to the rope. And another, but Litchfield never gives up on the chase and saves four on the dive. She pants, hands on knees, giving everything.
8th over: India 49-1 ( Smriti 20, Jemimah 13) Garth gets the treatment now, Jemimah jumping almost into box splits and spooning Garth backwards for four.
”Andy Pechey complimented the new verbs you are inventing (mangoed, frying panned, baguetted) for the shots, in the OBO yesterday.” Desperate times Krishnamoorthy V…. “Let me help you with some more with local flavor —- vada-pav_ed, jalebi_ed, dhokla_ed, bajji_ed, lassi_ed.”
I just looked up a vada-pav, the Indian equivalent of a chip barm/butty?
7th over: India 44-1 ( Smriti 20, Jemimah 8) Stand upon stand of blue shirts gyrate to the crack of a Smriti cut, sliding like a paper knife through the green sward. A fabulous dive from Ellyse Perry on the rope saves another four next ball.
6th over: India 38-1 ( Smriti 14, Jemimah 8) Glorious from Smriti – plonks her left foot and clonks Garth back over her head for a heady six. Jemimah whisks four through midwicket and the stadium rocks with delight. I think I heard a commentator say 40,00 are in the stands today, and nearly every one in Indian blue.
5th over: India 27-1 ( Smriti 7, Jemimah 4) Smriti nearly loses her stumps, having a wild hack at a ball that winks away and beats Healy as well, zipping down to the rope for four byes.
4th over: India 20-1 ( Smriti 6, Jemimah 3) A smart pick up at backward point stops a pretty shot from Smriti – Australia unlikely to be as sloppy in the field as India were. Five dots, a wide and a single off Garth. With a run rate of nearly seven at the start of the innings, India can’t have too many unproductive overs.
3rd over: India 18-1 ( Smriti 5, Jemimah 2) Schutt’s forehead glistens with sweat. Three from her over.
Hello Jeremy Boyce. “We are privileged to be alive to enjoy this Australia team. They’ve piled up another intimidating target today and I can’t see the bowlers letting the batters down now. All the same, India, eh ? If they can pull this one off they will dine out on it for years to come. And IF they manage it, where does that leave England ? There’ve been plenty of runs there for the taking but England failed to maximise. What do you think is holding them back ? Weight of expectation ? They’ve got good players and great structure behind them but have been left behind. And I haven’t even started on The Womens Ashes…
I think England’s main issue is that there seems to have been a lack of succession planning, or rather the young uns haven’t come on as the management hoped. I reckon this will change as the new(ish) domestic structure beds in and and because Edwards has demanded that all players play more domestic cricket.
2nd over: India 15-1 ( Smriti 4, Jemimah 0) Cracking comeback by Garth who had just been smoked through the covers by Shafali for four. Not the start India were after, though not as catastrophic as England’s yesterday.
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WICKET! Shafali lbw Garth 10 (India 13-1)
Shafali is quite far forward with her royal blue pad but it looks pretty plum…she reviews… and, yes, the ball would have cannoned into leg stump. An early wicket and a wasted review.
India need 339 to win
1st over: India 8-0 ( Smriti 2, Shafali 6) The last time Shafali Verma played an ODI for India was 2024. But here she picks up the first boundary of the chase, whisking Megan Schutt legside and down to the rope. If you’re in Navi Mumbai do let us know what the atmosphere is like in the stadium. If you’re anywhere else, come chew the fat with us.
Here come the players
The highest successful run chase in any women’s ODI? Over to you India.
Yesterday, South Africa’s 319 was the highest total in a World Cup semi-final. Today it is 338, Ash Gardener overtaking South Africa with two consecutive sixes.
Thank you Rob, I’ll slip you that fiver later. I can’t lie, as the kids (possibly) say this looks a mountain too high, a river too deep, for India. But Harmanpreet. But Smriti. But Jemimah. But the dropped-in Shafali Verma.
“Is there dew,” asks Dinesh Karthik standing on the pitch. He’s asked the groundsman who reports that there will be a slight increase but normally during monsoon season there shouldn’t be too much. The pitch remains as was and there should be some swing for the pace bowlers later on.
Australia’s mighty total was built on a sparkling 119 from Phoebe Litchfield and fine support from Ellyse Perry (77) and Ash Gardner (63 from 45). It should be enough, but strange things can happen under lights.
If India are to win, they need somebody to play the innings of their life in a World Cup semi-final against Australia. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Thanks for your company. I’ll hand you over to the brilliant Tanya Aldred for the run-chase; bye!
Phoebe Litchfield’s reaction
Yeah it was awesome to get the personal milestone but as a team it’s awesome to get over 300 and put a competitive score on the board.
I tried to assess the wicket, get myself in then take down the spinners when they put the ball in my area. Credit also goes to Pez [Ellyse Perry] for keeping me going. It was a team effort to get to 330-odd.
[On scoring so many runs through the off side] I try and pick the gaps. It’s a bit of a technical flaw, I slice balls all the time!
We would’ve taken [338] at the start of the day. Maybe we left a few out there at the back end but we’re really pleased.
India need 339 to win
That’s an admirable comeback from India, who restricted Australia to 123 for 8 from the last 17 overs. But they need a women’s ODI-record target of 339 to reach the final.
It would be a cracking story, mind, given the current record (331/7) was set by Australia against India in the group stage.
WICKET! Australia 338 all out (Garth run out 17)
No hat-trick for Deepti Sharma but the innings ends with one ball to spare when Garth is run out from long off.
WICKET! Australia 336-9 (Molineux b Deepti 0)
Deepti Sharma is on a hat-trick! Very clever bowling, fired in at leg stump to bowl Molineux round her legs.
WICKET! Australia 336-8 (King c Ghosh b Deepti 4)
King is caught behind on review; she was walking before the third umpire confirmed the decision. Four balls to go.
49th over: Australia 335-7 (Garth 15, King 4) Alana King can bat too, as she showed against Pakistan earlier in the tournament. She gets off the mark by skipping down to crack Radha Yadav through extra cover for four. One over to go; Australia already have the highest score in a Women’s World Cup semi-final.
WICKET! Australia 331-7 (Gardner run out 63)
Mercy. Gardner skips down to drag Yadav for a huge six over midwicket. She is almost redefining the role of the No6 in ODI cricket. She’s certainly rewriting the record books: no player batting No6 or lower has ever scored as many runs at a Women’s World Cup.
Gardner hits a flat six to the same part of the ground next ball. But then she’s run out after a mid-pitch mix-up. Garth eventually tried to sacrifice herself but it was too late, so Gardner goes for a punishing 63. She wasn’t at her fluent best, yet Gardner still hit four sixes and scored at a strike rate of 140.
48th over: Australia 319-6 (Gardner 51, Garth 14) Deepti fires the ball outside leg stump to Gardner, who reacts brilliantly to whirl the ball round the corner for four. That brings up a crucial fifty partnership in 36 balls – and then Gardner brings up her own fifty with a thump down the ground for two. She has developed into a sensational cricketer. The fifty came from 41 balls, but she’s on the charge and has scored 33 from the last 17.
47th over: Australia 311-6 (Gardner 44, Garth 14) A horrible short ball from Yadav is haddocked over midwicket for six by Gardner, who is every opposing captain’s worst nightmare at this stage of an innings. If she’s still batting at the end, Australia will almost certainly have too many runs.
46th over: Australia 300-6 (Gardner 35, Garth 12) Garth is playing a textbook supporting role, getting off strike so that Gardner can face as many deliveries as possible. Gardner clips Amanjot for four, which takes her average for this World Cup to exactly 100; that’s with a strike rate of 124 as well.
45th over: Australia 292-6 (Gardner 30, Garth 10) So much for seeing Charani off. Gardner skips down the track to blooter a mighty six over midwicket. Another big shot over square leg lands just short of the fielder, with Rodrigues running round behind her to save the boundary.
Charani’s last over is taken for 13. Despite that, she ends with excellent figures of 10-0-49-2.
44th over: Australia 279-6 (Gardner 18, Garth 9) Deepti, who has bowled much better in the second half of the innings, keeps Australia to four singles. One concern for India is that the ball is definitely starting to turn.
43rd over: Australia 275-6 (Gardner 16, Garth 7) Charani returns for her penultimate over. Gardner heaves a slog-sweep for a single but that aside Australia deal in low-risk shots. It makes sense to see Charani off and target, well, everybody else.
India have fought back well, restricting Australia to 60 for 4 from the last 10 overs.
42nd over: Australia 271-6 (Gardner 13, Garth 6) Kim Garth gets off the mark with a five, four of them overthrows from Harmnanpreet I think. If India lose by anything up to 20 runs they will reflect on some unusually shoddy fielding.
WICKET! Australia 265-6 (McGrath run out 12)
Gardner moves into double figures with a majestic shot, slammed through the covers off the back foot. She plays a similar stroke later in the over – but this time it’s straight to Jemimah Rodrigues and McGrath is run out by a mile! There was never a run there, not to Jemimah. Her pick-up and throw to Ghosh were immaculate and McGrath was well short.
41st over: Australia 260-5 (Gardner 9, McGrath 11) Ghosh misses a difficult stumping chance down the leg side when Deepti sees Gardner coming and bowls a deliberate wide.
A few balls are starting to grip for the spinners, which will interest one Australian genius in particular. An otherwise good over from Deepti is tarnished by another delivery outside leg stump – unintentional this time – that Gardner clips for four.
40th over: Australia 253-5 (Gardner 4, McGrath 10) The batters keep coming: Tahlia McGrath is Australia’s No7.
Tahlia McGrath is not a No7, though, and she starts with two punchy drives through extra cover. The first brings two runs, the second a boundary after a misfield. India have been sloppy in the field. A deliberate slash behind square takes McGrath to 10 from 4 balls. No7 indeed.
WICKET! Australia 243-5 (Perry b Yadav 77)
The TV pictures return just in time to see Radha Yadav bowl Ellyse Perry! It was a fine delivery that skidded on to beat Perry’s attempted cut and ping the off stump. Perry goes for a deceptively laboured innings of 77 from 88 balls. At times I thought she was batting too slowly, but with each passing wicket her runs become more important.
39th over: Australia 243-4 (Perry 77, Gardner 4) Kranti Gaud returns for a second spell. It doesn’t start well, with a bad ball that Perry slashes for four. And now the TV picture is down! Tremendous.
38th over: Australia 234-4 (Perry 69, Gardner 3) The left-arm spinner Charani, who has quietly been the pick of the Indian attack, gets some extra bounce to beat Gardner. This is an important spell – Charani has two overs remaining after this and could change the game by dismissing Gardner.
She beats Gardner again to end a terrific over. Charani’s figures (8-0-32-2) do not flatter here.
37th over: Australia 233-4 (Perry 68, Gardner 3) Gardner gets off the mark with a fierce extra-cover drive for two off Thakur, who is back in the attack. A decent over from it, with no boundaries and five runs in total.
36th over: Australia 228-4 (Perry 66, Gardner 0) The new batter is Ash Gardner, probably the best most dangerous middle-order hitter in the world right now. But if India get her early, they will be right back in this game.
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