Latest update August 4th, 2026 12:30 AM
India stun Australia in record chase to reach final
BBC Sport – Jemimah Rodrigues hit a remarkable unbeaten century as India completed a record chase to claim a stunning five-wicket win over Australia and reach the Women’s World Cup final.
Set 339 to win after a wonderful hundred from Australia opener Phoebe Litchfield, India held their nerve in a mammoth pursuit, with Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur leading the way with a 167-run stand.
Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues stabilised India’s innings. (ICC/Getty Images)
Harmanpreet fell for 89 with 113 still needed but Rodrigues remained, reaching her hundred from 115 balls, and she was there at the end as the highest successful chase in women’s one-day international history was achieved with nine balls to spare.
Rodrigues was in tears as the India players streamed on to the field after Amanjot Kaur hit the winning runs in front of a delirious home crowd to set up a final against South Africa on Sunday.
This game in Navi Mumbai will go down as an instant classic and with the defending champions dumped out, there will be a new name on the trophy this weekend.
It could all have been so different had Australia taken their chances but a missed stumping gave Harmanpreet a life on 10, while the simplest of catches was put down to reprieve Rodrigues on 82.
Australia captain and wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy was the guilty party both times with Alana King the unfortunate bowler.
But both batters were ruthless in making the most of their good fortune as they timed the chase to perfection, with Rodrigues showing intent from the off and Harmanpreet gradually building into her innings after the openers fell in the powerplay.
After Harmanpreet’s dismissal, Rodrigues benefited from another dropped catch with Tahlia McGrath letting the ball slip through her fingers from what seemed a straightforward chance at mid-off.
For all that Australia can point to costly errors, it is the brilliance of Rodrigues and her all-time World Cup innings that will live long in the memory.
Australia fail to capitalise on Litchfield ton
Few would have predicted the outcome at the halfway stage as Australia racked up a seemingly commanding total on a good batting surface.
But even then, there was a feeling the seven-time winners had left plenty of runs out there having stuttered slightly after the fantastic platform built by Litchfield.
The left-hander has had a quiet tournament by her standards, passing fifty only once prior to the semi-final, but she was in fine nick from the off here.
India won the semi-final after completing the highest chase in W-ODI history. (Getty Images)
While Healy, back after missing Australia’s last two group games through injury, struggled to get going, Litchfield took the attack to the India bowlers.
The 22-year-old made little secret of the fact she was targeting the off side but her timing and placement was such that India could not stop her racing to a 77-ball ton.
Lofted drive after lofted drive cleared the in-field and raced away with 15 of Litchfield’s 17 fours, and all three of her sixes, coming on the off side.
In total 85% of her runs were scored on that side of the wicket and even without her runs on the leg side, she would have scored 101.
But ultimately her efforts were in vain as Australia suffered two mini-collapses after she departed, going from 220-2 to 265-6, before losing their last four wickets for only seven runs.
Three needless run outs did not help and where the 375 they were on course for might have been a winning total, the 338 all out they ended up with most certainly was not.
Scores: India 341 for 5 (Rodrigues 127*, Harmanpreet 89, Garth 2-46) beat Australia 338 (Litchfield 119, Perry 77, Gardner 63, Charani 2-49, Deepti 2-73) by five wickets.
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