Match 13 of the ongoing Women’s ODI World Cup is going to be a blockbuster showdown with heavyweights India and Australia preparing to lock horns at the Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. With both teams eyeing crucial points, the stage is set for a high-voltage encounter that could shape the trajectory of their World Cup campaigns.

The hosts, India, started their campaign on a positive note, notching up consecutive wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Notably, India were not at their best in either game but they somehow put in match-winning performances to get over the line. However, their momentum was halted in their third outing as South Africa handed them a sobering defeat, exposing some underlying vulnerabilities.

India’s batting, in particular, has leaned heavily on the lower order to bail them out. In two of their three games, it was their lower order that steadied the ship after the top order faltered. The likes of Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh have stepped up under pressure, but India will need their top-order batters, Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol and captain Harmanpreet Kaur, to deliver against a formidable Australian attack.

Australia, the defending champions, have had a mixed start to their campaign. They opened with a solid win against New Zealand, followed by a washout against Sri Lanka, and then bounced back with another victory over Pakistan. Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney have been the standout performers so far, both scoring brilliant centuries to anchor the Aussie batting lineup. However, the rest of Australia’s star-studded batting order, Alyssa Healy, Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, and Annabel Sutherland, has yet to make a significant impact. All eyes will be on these experienced names to find form in Visakhapatnam. 

Head-to-head

India and Australia have faced each other in 59 ODIs. Australia have 48 wins against India’s 11.

India probable XI: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani

Australia probable XI: Alyssa Healy (c&wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahila McGrath, Georgia Wareham/Sophie Molineux, Kim Garth, Alana King, Megan Schutt