New Delhi. The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup has reached its most exciting point. The Indian women’s cricket team faces six-time champion Australian team in a very high-voltage and decisive match of Group A of the tournament. This match, which will start at 7:00 pm Indian time on Sunday, June 28 at the historic Lord’s ground in London, is a battle for credibility for India and to reach the semi-finals. For the ‘Women in Blue’ led by Harmanpreet Kaur, this match to be held at Lord’s, known as the Mecca of cricket, is completely ‘do or die’. India has played brilliantly in the tournament so far, winning three of its four matches and is second in the points table of Group A with six points. At the same time, the Australian team captained by Sophie Molineux is on top with eight points after winning all its four matches.
India will need a big and convincing win over the Kangaroo team at any cost to secure its place in the semi-finals. If the Indian team misses this match, then its eyes will be on the first match (South Africa vs Bangladesh) to be held on the same ground on Sunday. If South Africa beats Bangladesh there, then the 2025 ODI World Cup winning Indian team will be out of the tournament. In such a situation, instead of relying on any other team, the Indian team would like to register a win on its own and secure a place in the top two.
What does the history of India vs Australia say in T20 World Cup?
When it comes to the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup, there has always been a close contest between India and Australia, although the Australian team has had the upper hand. Both the teams have come face to face a total of 7 times so far in the history of this tournament. Out of these 7 matches, India has won only 2 matches, while it has faced defeat 5 times.
The first encounter between these two in this tournament took place in Gross Islet in 2010, where Australia defeated India by 7 wickets. After this, in 2012, Australia also won by 8 wickets in Galle. India got its first success in the year 2018 on the grounds of Providence, when Team India registered a big win by 48 runs. After this, in the very first match of the 2020 World Cup in Sydney, India surprised Australia by 17 runs, but in the final of the same tournament at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Australian team counterattacked and won the title by defeating India by 85 runs. India suffered a heartbreaking defeat by just 5 runs in the 2023 semi-finals in Cape Town, and the last encounter between the two teams took place on 13 October 2024 in Sharjah, where Australia defeated India by 9 runs.
highest and lowest score
India has scored its highest score twice in the T20 World Cup against Australia. Team India had scored 167 runs by losing 8 wickets in 20 overs in Providence in 2018 and again in 2023 at Newlands ground in Cape Town. At the same time, the team’s worst performance was in the 2020 World Cup final, when the Indian team was all out for just 99 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. If we talk about the biggest win in terms of runs, India had registered a historic win by 48 runs while defending 167 runs against Australia in Providence in 2018.
Harmanpreet and Smriti’s dominance
Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s bat has always roared on this big stage against Australia. She is the player who has played the most number of matches (7 matches) for India in the history of T20 World Cup against Australia and as captain, she has also commanded the team in maximum number of 5 matches. Harmanpreet has the highest score of 197 runs in these matches, which includes two brilliant half-centuries. Not only this, he has also hit the maximum number of 4 sixes against Australia.
Opener Smriti Mandhana is on top in terms of individual scores. In the year 2018, Mandhana had played a brilliant inning of 83 runs in 55 balls, destroying the Kangaroo bowlers at the Providence ground. At the same time, all-rounder Deepti Sharma is at the forefront in terms of consistency, who has maintained an excellent batting average of 46.33 by scoring 139 runs in 5 matches. Young sensation Shefali Verma has also shown her aggressive style against Australia, scoring 60 runs in 4 matches, but her strike rate is 162.16, which is the best among both the teams.
Talking about partnerships, the biggest Indian partnership against Australia is 69 runs, which was made between captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues for the fourth wicket at Cape Town in the year 2023. However, some unwanted records are also a part of this history, like spinner Radha Yadav has the maximum number of 2 ducks (being out on zero) in 4 matches.
bowling and fielding
On the bowling front, two Indian players have troubled the Australian batsmen the most. All-rounder Deepti Sharma and leg spinner Poonam Yadav both have the highest number of 7 wickets each in the T20 World Cup against Australia. During this period, the best bowling analysis of the tournament is in the name of Poonam Yadav. On 21 February 2020, Poonam took 4 wickets for just 19 runs on the Sydney ground, which gave India a memorable victory. She is the only Indian bowler to take 4 wicket haul in this rivalry.
Some records in fielding and wicketkeeping are also very special. Behind the wicket, Tania Bhatia showed amazing agility and took a total of 8 dismissals (3 catches and 5 stumpings), the most by any Indian keeper. Whereas in the outfield, Veda Krishnamurthy has been known for her excellent fielding, who has taken maximum 5 catches against Australia in just 3 matches.
A chance to settle scores from the previous conflict
The last clash between India and Australia took place on 13 October 2024 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. In that match, the Australian team, batting first, scored 151/8 in the stipulated 20 overs. In reply, even after playing full 20 overs, the Indian team could score only 142 runs by losing 9 wickets and lost the match by a close margin of 9 runs.
Now on the historic ground of Lord’s, the Indian team not only has a golden opportunity to settle the score of that previous defeat, but also has the opportunity to step directly into the semi-finals by maintaining its excellent form. The eyes of the whole world are fixed on this Cricket Mahakumbh to be held on Sunday evening.
