Feature

Passion, fire: The fork-in-the-road moment that defines a rivalry

Feature

27 Oct 2025 Laura Jolly, in Mumbai

Feature

27 Oct 2025 Laura Jolly, in Mumbai

Australia and India's 2017 ODI World Cup semi-final clash was a defining moment for both teams, lighting a fire under one of cricket's fiercest rivalries

When Australia and India share a cricket field you can bank on fireworks, records being rewritten, and often enough, a touch of controversy.

The Ashes might be the oldest rivalry in women's cricket, but across the past decade, Australia's contests against India have consistently proved to be some of the game's most compelling.

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The next chapter of Australia v India will play out at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium on Thursday, when the hosts meet the defending champions for a spot in the ODI World Cup final.

The rivalry stretches back to their first meeting, a Test match in the Perth suburb of Wembley Downs in 1976, while they met for the first time in a World Cup final in 2005.

But Harmanpreet Kaur lit a fire under it when she blazed her way to 171 not out in Derby in 2017, and a series of classic down-to-the-wire showdowns between the sides over the eight years since have only seen the rivalry grow more intense.

"They're just always hard-fought games," Tahlia McGrath told cricket.com.au ahead of the World Cup.

"They're always so close, always really crucial moments in the game that defines the result.

"The thing about playing against India is how passionate they are.

"When they're up and about, you can tell ... and then when you're on top, you can also tell.

"They're a highly emotional team, and it makes the games really good spectacles for everyone."

Earlier in this tour, during a pre-game press conference, Alyssa Healy remarked that she could not travel far in India without being reminded of Harmanpreet's epic knock, which dumped hot favourites Australia from the ODI World Cup semi-final and saw India reach their first decider in 12 years.

And rightly so. Her innings, and that win, propelled Indian women's cricket into the national consciousness, and to heights that have not been matched since – that is, unless Harmanpreet manages to lead her team to the promised land at DY Patil Stadium in Sunday's final.

Harmanpreet Kaur walks from the field in Derby // Getty

Thus, it makes sense that 2017 semi-final remains the fondest of memories to those who follow the 'Women in Blue', and it's likely to be brought up countless more times over the coming days in Mumbai.

That match was of course equally important for Australian women's cricket, a crucible moment that exposed the cracks they had been papering over, resulting in months of soul-searching and honest reflection, and ultimately, triggered a fresh era of dominance.

Meg Lanning, Rachael Haynes and Matthew Mott embarked on a four-year quest (one that ultimately took five, after the pandemic forced the postponement of the 2022 World Cup) to right a wrong, and reclaim the trophy that went begging following that defeat in Derby.

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Those demons of 2017 were exorcised at Christchurch's Hagley Oval on April 3, 2022, when Healy's 170 paved the way to a famous World Cup final win.

Along the way, the Australian team had evolved into a near-unstoppable force, as they also claimed the 2018, 2020 and 2023 T20 World Cups, Commonwealth Games gold and rewrote the record books with a 26-game ODI winning streak.

These days, only a handful of players remain from that 2017 World Cup, and Lanning, Haynes and Mott have all moved on.

If there's any nagging sense of unfinished business around the current group, it comes from the hurt of last year's T20 World Cup knockout loss to South Africa, not from a game that – despite its various ongoing legacies that include Australia's seemingly endless conveyor belt of allrounders – happened eight years ago.

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Australia, of course, are cognisant of the threat India pose. These days, it's not so much because of 2017, but because of India's more recent record against them.

It may not be reflected in the wins column; India have only beaten Australia twice out of 17 ODIs in the eight years since, once in Mackay in 2021 and again last month in New Chandigarh, and five times in 23 T20Is.

However, India have a proven knack for pushing Australia closer more often than other teams, even when the Aussies have somehow, at times in ways that defy belief and the record books, walked away with the win.

On Thursday, Harmanpreet's team will be riding a wave of local support with a sold-out crowd behind them, and should be buoyed with confidence after finally finding their mojo at the right time following a stuttering round stage that included three straight defeats.

Australia will also go in with momentum behind them, after advancing through the round-robin stage undefeated, finishing by demolising tital rivals South Africa.

They have now won 15 ODI World Cups games on the bounce, having not dropped a match since that semi-final against India in 2017.

"You're not just playing the XI on the field, you're playing their whole nation, and the whole stadium is going to be a sea of blue, so we've got that challenge ahead of us as well," Australia leg-spinner Alana King said of meeting India on Thursday.

"But I think the biggest thing is just embrace it ... we know not everything's going to be on our side that night, but if we just stick together and stick to our processes and try to execute our plans that we've got with bat and ball, it's going to put us in a better position.

"It's just going to be a great time to look around, take it all in, and enjoy it. It's something special.

"We speak about momentum, especially in World Cups … but come finals time, it's a different kettle of fish, and it's a whole new ball game, so no doubt we've got some momentum behind us, but we're not going to look too far ahead.

"Getting into a semi-final in a World Cup doesn't come around too often, so I think it's about enjoying it, embracing the contest, and just really looking forward to it."

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If the fork in the road from Derby County Cricket ground led Australia along a path of riches, for India, it has so far led to a collection of almosts, of what-ifs, of climbing the mountain only to stumble just before the summit.

At Lord's on July 23, 2017, they kept England to 7-228, but Anya Shrubsole's golden arm and a horror a collapse of 7-28 saw them fall nine runs short of a maiden World Cup trophy.

There was the semi-final defeat to England in Antigua at the 2018 T20 World Cup, then the loss to Australia in the 2020 final in front of 86,174 fans at the MCG 14 months later.

Healy produced the image of her life in the 2020 final // Getty

There were the near identical run chases in the Commonwealth Games gold medal match and 2023 T20 World Cup semi-final in Cape Town, where India were well on track to beat Australia on both occasions, only for Lanning's team to find a way.

Since 2017, India have won just one knockout game at a global tournament, against an England side beleaguered by its own issues at Birmingham 2022.

So those India players who were there in Derby when Harmanpreet unleashed - and those who, perhaps inspired by her heroics, found their way into the team across the eight years since - could do worse than to channel the memories of that game, as they look to topple the world's top-ranked team this week and earn a spot in a World Cup final in front of a home crowd.

2025 Women's ODI World Cup

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham