Women's T20 World Cup: India face daunting task as they take on Australia in semi-final

Cape Town [South Africa], February 22 (ANI): India will play defending champions Australia in the semi-finals of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa on Thursday.

India and Australia met in the final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Melbourne in 2020. The match was won by the hosts by 85 runs.

Australia, the world's number-one women's T20 cricket team, has won the T20 World Cup five times in seven editions. India ranked fourth, has only made it to the final once.

The two teams have contested in T20 match 30 times. India has only won six matches, whereas Australia has won 22. One match ended in a tie, while another ended in a draw.

India has not beaten Australia in their last 11 matches and will be the underdogs on Thursday. Australia's women's cricket team won all four of their group matches, while India finished second with one loss and three wins. India lost their match against England, who will face South Africa in the second semi-final on Friday.

In the end, India made it through with relative ease, despite the loss to England in their third match. Wins over Pakistan and West Indies saw Harmanpreet Kaur's side begin the tournament well, and they were effectively already through when they took to the field to play Ireland in their final match due to a superior net run rate.

Rain denied the chance for that game to be completed, but India looked in a strong position thanks to having batted really nicely.

On the other hand, the world's top-ranked team is aiming for a hat-trick of Women's T20 World Cup title and they remain favourites after a dominant performance in the group stage. Meg Lanning's side has rarely looked in trouble and stopping them will be a tough task for India.

Smriti Mandhana (149) has been the highest run-scorer for the Indian women's cricket team in the T20 World Cup 2023 so far while Alyssa Healy (146) has led the run-scoring charts for Australia. Renuka Singh (7) has been India's leading wicket-taker while Megan Schutt has spearheaded the Aussie bowling with eight scalps. (ANI)