Despite losing three games in the group stages, India – their semi-final opponents – still feel the most likely team to beat them, having posted 330 against them in the pick of the group-stage games, only for it to prove at least 20 runs short.
They are also the most recent team to beat Australia in an ODI, in the pre-World Cup series which Healy’s side won 2-1, and will have a likely home crowd in their favour.
It makes for an intriguing batting match-up. Similarly, India have a very strong opening partnership in Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal, who are averaging 82.8, but the latter may be a doubt for the semi-finals after sustaining an injury to her knee and ankle in the field against Bangladesh.
They also have strong batting depth but it has cost them in the bowling department, which could be the difference. India, with fewer all-rounders, have mostly opted for the extra batter and five bowlers but that saw Australia chase 330 with relative ease, so they are still searching for the right balance with their XI.
For England, they are outperforming their rivals with the ball in both the powerplay and the death overs, while their spin attack has taken the second-most wickets (37) and has the second-best average (19.2).
However, they are considerably far behind with the bat with strike-rates of 85.8 and 74 against pace and spin respectively – particularly struggling in the middle overs where they score at 4.55 runs per over at an average of 34.
South Africa, meanwhile, have the best powerplay bowling record in terms of economy, which could be a good contest considering Australia’s top-order strength.
They also have considerably the best batting record between overs 41-50, thanks to the lower order power-hitting of Nadine de Klerk in clutch chases against India and Bangladesh. They average 53 in overs 41-50 with the next best being Australia’s 31.3.
A huge element to the challenge of coming up against Australia, though, is not one that can be conveyed through stats – it comes from the mental game.
Whoever is to beat them knows they must put out pretty much the perfect performance under the highest pressure, and even then they might still be relying on Australia to make a few mistakes of their own.
Speaking of which, Australia mistakes in the field are rare – they take almost 77% of their catches, which ranks them second in the tournament.
They are behind England who, after so much criticism about fielding standards and fitness in recent years, top the catching charts with an efficiency of almost 83%.
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