The Australian women’s cricket team is a juggernaut in both the white-ball formats and are serial winners of World Cup titles. More recently, their wins have often had similar consequences: breaking Indian hearts. But among the elite teams of women’s cricket, India perhaps remain Australia’s consistent threat.
Speaking ahead of the match at the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup – expected to be played on Sunday in front of a packed ACA -VDCA stadium in Vizag – Australia captain Alyssa Healy spoke of the growing rivalry between the sides.
“I think the rivalry continues to grow,” Healy said. “I think I’ve said it previously that I feel like they’ve been a really, almost a sleeping giant in the women’s game for a long period of time. It’s probably since the WPL has come into play that they’ve realized the depth they’ve got and they’ve figured out a style of play that they want to want to use, especially in this format, and they’re really sticking to that, which I think has been really impressive to see. So, yeah, look at them in their home conditions, they’re obviously going to play really well and be a real threat. But as we’ve seen throughout this World Cup so far, there’s lots of teams that are pushing everybody. So, I wouldn’t probably say there’s one team that’s our main threat, but we know we’re going to have to work hard in every fixture to get our result and that’s the way a World Cup should be.”
Australia haven’t had the smoothest of starts to the tournament so far, having suffered batting collapses in both their matches before recovering, thanks to their incredible batting depth. It was Ash Gardner who scored a stunning century in Indore against New Zealand, while Beth Mooney rallied around the lower order with her against a spirited Pakistan in Colombo.
Asked if the collapses were a concern, Healy didn’t read too much into them. ‘No, not really. I mean, we’re allowed to lose games of cricket and we’re allowed to be put under pressure at times, in particular in World Cups. I think you’re going to be put under the pump in unfamiliar conditions, against unfamiliar sides at times. I think that’s the nature of the game, and like I’ve said all along, I really back our depth in our side and also in our squad that the 11 that we put out on the park are going to be able to get the job done for us. And we’re fortunate that it’s been a different person every time that stuck their hand up and said, yep, I’ve got this, I can get us to a total or I can take the wickets to restrict the team. So, yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s a worry. It’s something we’d like to rectify and I think there’s a lot of teams that are probably wanting to rectify that as well. But tomorrow, I guess is another opportunity to go out there and hopefully lay a platform if it is our opportunity with that in hand,” the wicketkeeper-opener said.
Healy’s side also received a boost in terms of player availability as left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux trained before the India match in Vizag and is good to go. It is a big threat for India as they have struggled against left-arm spinners across all three of their matches so far. Someone like Jemimah Rodrigues has been dismissed all three times but left-arm orthodox. “I think she is available for tomorrow’s fixture and what our 11 looks like, I’m not 100% sure just yet, but yeah, I’d see her probably playing a really big role in particular, more so against this opposition. I think she’s a really great match up in that regard in these conditions. We’ll wait and see how that plays out, but it is nice to have her available,” Healy said.
Healy’s personal form has been one of the concerns for Australia so far in the tournament as the captain has been dismissed within the powerplay in both of their matches (game vs Sri Lanka was washed out). But the swashbuckling opener, who has won many a big match for Australia with her aggressive approach at the start, said it is not something that she’d be changing.
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“I actually still think the power play plays a crucial role in this World Cup, if you can get off to a pretty decent start. It seems to be throughout the middle overs that some sides have been managing to squeeze oppositions, but I still think if you can get off to a good start and set a platform, that’s going to be really important to putting a good total out there or chasing something down. There’s a little bit of a fine balance in that regard, but I think both of us at the top of the order (Healy and Phoebe Litchfield) are quite aggressive players, so we’re not exactly going to curb that at any point. It’s just probably making a few better decisions and taking a few smarter options, knowing, and feeling the conditions out there at that moment in time, and hopefully that’ll lay the platform for what is a really dominant middle order of ours to set a big total or, like I said, chase it down.”
