Ten World Cup classics between Australia and India

27 Oct 2025 Laura Jolly, in Mumbai

Ahead of Australia's ODI World Cup semi-final showdown against India in Navi Mumbai on Thursday, take a look back and some classic contests between the two sides

2005 ODI World Cup final

Australia's bid for a fifth World Cup title in the 2005 tournament in South Africa pitted them against a first-time finalist, India.

Belinda Clark's team had been dominant through the tournament, winning five of their seven round-robin games with their other two washed out, including their showdown with India.

Batting first in Centurion, Clark and Lisa Keightley departed cheaply, but a superb unbeaten 107 from first drop Karen Rolton and 55 from Lisa Sthalekar saw Australia to 4-215, a reasonable score given just six first-innings totals above 200 had been posted previously in the tournament.

Lisa Sthalekar and the Blackwell sisters celebrate Australia's 2005 triumph // Getty

India – who were led by captain Mithali Raj while Jhulan Goswami took the new ball – struggled to build partnerships in reply.

Opener Anju Jain top-scored with 29, while Mithali was trapped lbw by current Australia head coach Shelley Nitschke, as India were bowled out for 117 in 46 overs to see Australia lift the title.

2009 ODI World Cup: Super Sixes and third-place play off

Current stars Ellyse Perry and Harmanpreet Kaur as well as Aussie coach Nitschke were all involved as Australia and India went head-to-head twice in the 2009 World Cup, and both results were telling as Australia recorded their poorest result at a global event, despite hosting the tournament.

Rolton's team were already facing a battle to finish in the top two of the Super Sixes and claim their spot in the final having lost their opening group-stage match to New Zealand, but their 16-run loss to India at North Sydney Oval ended their hopes.

Goswami and Raj celebrate India's win over Australia in 2009 // Getty

Anjum Chopra's 76 and Raj's 44 helped India to 5-234, before Australia were kept to 7-218 despite a half-century from Alex Blackwell.

Then, Australia's hopes of salvaging some pride in the third-place play-off were again dashed by the Indians.

Batting first in a rain-reduced 46-over-a-side match, the Aussies were restricted to 142 thanks largely to Goswami's 2-21, which included the prized wicket of opener Leah Poulton. Sthalekar's 3-23 was not enough to stop India in reply, as they reached their target with three wickets in hand and 2.1 overs to spare.

2017 ODI World Cup semi-final

This was the 'crucible moment' that forced Australia to reassess everything in their system, from their selection to their team culture and everything in between.

Meg Lanning's team were the favourites to lift the trophy and advanced relatively untroubled through the round-robin stage, with just one narrow defeat to hosts, England.

Harmanpreet Kaur destroyed Australia in the 2017 semi-final // Getty

They had accounted for India by eight wickets in Bristol earlier in the World Cup, but on a gloomy day in Derby, Harmanpreet Kaur unleashed on Australia's bowlers.

Kaur's unbeaten 171 powered India to 4-281 from a reduced 42 overs, before a pearler of a delivery from Goswami bowled Lanning for a duck early in the reply.

Alex Blackwell's valiant 90 off 56 deliveries was not enough as India won by 36 runs, securing their place in the final against England at Lord's.

2020 T20 World Cup: Opening game and the final

India shocked Australia in the opening game of the 2020 T20 World Cup in Sydney, with Poonam Yadav running through a star-studded batting line-up to secure a 17-run win.

It continued a trend of India getting the better of their rivals at global events; they had followed their 2017 one-day semi-final victory with an emphatic 48-run win during the group stage of the 2018 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, although Australia had the last laugh at that event, beating England in the final.

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

In 2020, Australia were already under immense pressure to advance as the home side, defending champions and firm favourites, and their first-up loss left them needing to win their three remaining matches to advance to the semi-finals.

It took some fight, and a fair dash of luck with the Sydney weather in the semi-final, but they got through to set up a blockbuster final against India at the MCG.

In front of 86,174 fans, Australia were dominant with blistering knocks from Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy powering their side to 4-184, before India were bowled out for just 99.

2022 Commonwealth Games: Gold medal match

Okay, so this technically isn't a World Cup, but it was a major tournament.

If the opening clash between these rivals in Birmingham wasn't scintillating enough – Australia fighting back from 5-49 courtesy of a brilliant partnership between Ashleigh Gardner and Grace Harris – the gold medal match delivered another classic.

The drama at Edgbaston had started before a ball was bowled; allrounder Tahlia McGrath tested positive for COVID-19 shortly before the match and her participation had to be cleared before she could be named in the XI.

Australia celebrate Commonwealth Games gold // Getty

Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur had threatened to become the source of nightmares for Australia once again, smashing a 43-ball 65 to give her side every chance of reaching their target of 162 and securing a maiden title at a major women's tournament.

But Australia held their nerve with the ball and in the field at the death, as India lost 8-34 to be bowled out for 152 in the final over.

India had needed 11 runs off the final over with two wickets in hand, but veteran spinner Jess Jonassen delivered a dot, before a desperate attempt to run two – and keep concussion replacement Yastika Bhatia on strike – produced a run out.

Jonassen then got Bhatia lbw next ball, sealing the historic match for Australia, giving them a trifecta of major titles, with Games gold adding to the ODI and T20 World Cups they already possessed.

2023 T20 World Cup: semi-final

Australia kept their dreams of a T20 World Cup three-peat alive after a remarkable fightback with the ball secured a thrilling five-run semi-final victory over India at Newlands.

Harmanpreet Kaur (52 off 34) once again threatened to emerge as Australia's semi-final tormentor, hammering a quickfire half-century to put her team on track to reel in Australia's 4-172.

But two key wickets for Darcie Brown (2-18) and Kaur's bizarre run out with her team 40 runs shy of a spot in the tournament final – a game-turning moment that saw the fuming India captain heave her bat across the outfield in disgust – gave Australia a sniff and the reigning champions grabbed it with both hands.

A superb display at the death with the ball from spinners Jess Jonassen (1-22) and Ashleigh Gardner (2-37) and in the field – the highlight of which was a full body dive from Ellyse Perry to slap a certain boundary back into the field of play – strangled India, who were ultimately restricted to 8-167.

2024 T20 World Cup, group stage

In Sharjah in October 2024, Australia held their nerve in a thrilling nine-run win over India to seal top spot in their group and a semi-final berth.

With captain Alyssa Healy out injured, Australia's stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath and deputy Ellyse Perry led their team to 8-151 in front of a sold-out crowd of 14,946 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The vast majority of those fans were wearing blue, and they rode every wave of India's chase, which stalled after the loss of their top three in the first 6.5 overs, only to be reignited as Harmanpreet Kaur (54no from 47) stormed home with a 44-ball half-century.

Like so many blockbuster matches between these fierce foes, it came down to a battle of Australia v Harmanpreet.

From a precarious position needing 53 runs from the final five overs, Harmanpreet smacked 25 from the next 14 balls she faced to reduce that margin significantly, aided by Deepti Sharma's 29 from 25.

A clutch 17th over from Megan Schutt, that went for a single run and included the brilliant direct hit run out of Richa Ghosh from the arm of Phoebe Litchfield, briefly stemmed the tide, before India's skipper struck three more boundaries to leave 14 runs required from the last.

McGrath threw Annabel Sutherland – who had celebrated her 23rd birthday a day earlier – the ball, and she duly produced a poised final over beyond her years.

Harmanpreet couldn't clear the inner ring first ball, and found herself off strike, then Sutherland bowled Pooja Vastrakar with her next.

Arundhati Reddy was run out getting her captain back on strike, but when Harmanpreet could only manage another single, Sutherland closed out another thrilling win for Australia over India.

2025 ODI World Cup, round-robin stage

This time it was Alyssa Healy's drought-breaking century that paved the way to a world record ODI chase, as Australia reeled in a mammoth target of 331 with an over to spare in Visakhapatnam.

An instant classic that swung throughout came down to the penultimate over at the ACA-VDCA Stadium.

Instant classic! Healy's epic century leads world record chase

With six runs needed from the final seven deliveries and three wickets in hand, Ellyse Perry – who had earlier retired hurt due to cramp and then returned to the middle in the 45th over with her team six wickets down – spanked a flat six down the ground to seal a famous win.

Australia bettered the previous highest successful chase in women's one-dayers, Sri Lanka's 4-305 against South Africa in April last year.

Smriti Mandhana (80 from 66) had earlier led the way in India's 330 all out in excellent batting conditions, while Annabel Sutherland's 5-40 reined in what could have actually been a far larger total.

Healy's superb 107-ball 142, her first century in any format since the 2022 World Cup final and her first as Australian captain, set the tone for the history-making chase.

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