India have entered their fifth semifinal in the Women’s ODI World Cup after making it to the top four in the 2025 edition. The Women in Blue huffed and puffed a bit, but after three straight losses, putting their progress to the semifinal in jeopardy but a win over New Zealand sealed their spot in the knockouts with one game to spare.
India’s last league stage against Bangladesh was washed out due to rain, but the Women in Blue had done enough with their New Zealand win to make it to the semis, where they will be facing Australia, the defending champions.
India will face their toughest test against the Aussies, who are the title favourites and the only unbeaten team in the tournament. They have won six of the seven matches, with one being a no-result outing against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, India have three wins, three losses and a no-result in the group stage and will now look to pull off an upset.
What is Team India’s best performance in Women’s ODI World Cup?
India’s best performance in a Women’s ODI World Cup has been two runners-up finishes – one in 2005 and the other in 2017. The Women in Blue came close to lifting their first-ever ICC title in these two editions and more so in 2017, when they had defeated the might Aussies in the semifinal, but lost out to England in the final.
India played their first-ever final in 2005, when the young Mithali Raj was the captain of the team. India had won five of the eight matches they played on their road to the final and had suffered just one loss. The Women in Blue had defeated New Zealand in the semifinal after defending 204 to win by 40 runs.
However, they were mauled by Australia in the final. The Aussies put 215/4 in the first innings, but India were bowled out for 117.
India’s run to the 2017 final was another inspirational run. They had won four of the six matches in the group stage before meeting Australia in the semifinal. Led by Harmanpreet Kaur’s magical 171 from 115 balls – an innings regarded as one of the best in women’s ODI – India put up 281/4. The bowlers did their job well to stun the mighty Aussies in the semifinal by 36 runs.
However, the Indian team committed a hara-kiri and let the silverware slip off in the final few overs of the 229-run chase. The Women in Blue needed 47 runs from the final 48 balls and had seven wickets in hand, including that of the well set Punam Raut, who was batting on 86.
But the Indian team lost its way with Anya Shrubsole took five of the next seven wickets to fall to claim a sixth-wicket haul and lead England to title and India in a heartbreak as the Women in Blue fell short by nine runs.
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