Australia and South Africa will both have a point to prove on Saturday as they go head-to-head in a mouth-watering top-of-the-table ODI World Cup showdown.
Confidence and momentum are on the line ahead of next week’s semi-finals, and the winner will fly to Mumbai to meet fourth-ranked India at DY Patil Stadium on October 30.
The match at Indore’s Holkar Stadium will be the first meeting between the rivals since the Proteas stunned Australia in last year’s T20 World Cup semi-final in Dubai, dumping the favourites from the tournament.
In the aftermath of that defeat, Australia embarked on a period of soul-searching, pledging to play a bolder, braver brand of cricket, across ODIs as well as T20Is, and adopting a ‘no ceilings’ approach to maximise their enviable depth.
“I think the way that we’ve approached our game since the T20 World Cup semi-final loss has showcased what we’ve always been capable of doing,” allrounder Ashleigh Gardner said on Friday.
“It’s just being braver in the way that we go about it.
“Certainly (South Africa) will come in with a lot of confidence, they’ve won five games in a row now, so we certainly want to stall that going into the finals.
“If we do finish top of the table, we’re coming up against a pretty formidable side in India, so there’s certainly lots of obstacles to overcome to hopefully reach that final.
“But it all starts tomorrow … we’ll take a lot of confidence out of what we’ve done throughout this whole tournament.”
For South Africa, who went on to lose last year’s T20 World Cup final to New Zealand, and who have never qualified for an ODI World Cup final, it is a chance to prove they can regularly mix it with the world’s best team – a side they have only previously beaten on three occasions across white-ball formats, with all three of those wins coming in 2024.
In Dubai, it was powerful top-order batter Anneke Bosch who proved Australia’s semi-final nemesis, hammering a career-best 74no from 48 balls as the Proteas reeled in a below-par 5-134 in just 17.2 overs.
The 32-year-old has not been able to match that form in this tournament thus far, scoring 6, 0, 1 and 28 across South Africa’s first four matches before subsequently being dropped for the next two.
Nonetheless, Bosch was wheeled out for South Africa’s pre-game press conference on Friday evening, providing her with a chance to offer some insight into what it takes to beat the world’s top-ranked team, while at the same time admitting she had no idea whether selectors would give her another shot at the Aussies come Saturday.
“Obviously not the best tournament for me so far but I guess it’s cricket and you’re not always going to get the runs that you want,” Bosch said.
“I’m not sure how management is looking at it for tomorrow’s game … but if I play then obviously I’ve got some good memories about playing against Australia so that’ll be a bit of a confidence booster.
“We’re just looking forward to the opportunity to play against Australia and we want to do well and hopefully finish top of the table.
“They’re a world class team and really difficult to beat and defending champions and they’ve been really playing really good cricket over the whole tournament.
“It’s going to be a big challenge and a good contest but I think if we just play our best cricket then the results will take care of itself.”
The winner of Saturday’s game will go into the semi-finals buoyed with confidence and on a six-game winning streak at this tournament.
That could prove pivotal, given neither of the paths forward from Indore will prove easy in the hunt for the trophy.
The winners will fly directly to Navi Mumbai to face India in a do-or-die semi-final, just as the hosts have finally found their mojo in their home World Cup.
Neither Australia nor South Africa have played at DY Patil Stadium this tournament – although the former can at least lay claim to a handful of T20Is at the ground in 2022 and 2024 – while India will have played their final two round games at the venue.
‘Only needs one calf’: Why Healy will play World Cup semis
But if India are defeated, the winner will be able to lay claim to the superior knowledge of the conditions, and avoid yet another flight, ahead of the final on November 2.
Saturday’s losers will board a plane headed in the opposite direction, to Guwahati in the state of Assam, located in the far north-east corner of India.
There, they’ll play England. Australia have never played there before, while South Africa’s one game at the ACA Stadium, earlier this month, saw them rolled by Natalie Sciver-Brunt’s team for a paltry total of 69 in their sole loss of the tournament.
Successfully navigate that hurdle, and it’s an almost four-hour flight back in the opposite direction to Mumbai, with two days to prepare for the final.
Both Bosch and Australia vice-captain Tahlia McGrath insisted on Friday they had no preference which semi-final opponent they played – only that they wanted to go into the knockouts on a winning note.
“South Africa are a very dangerous side and we’ve seen that a lot in this tournament,” McGrath said.
“We do have a good record against them, but there’s still plenty to play for in this World Cup.
“We want to take that momentum into the finals and we also want to finish top spot, so there’s still a lot to play for and it’s going to be a really tough game.”
2025 Women’s ODI World Cup
Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
Australia’s group stage matches
October 1: Australia beat New Zealand by 89 runs
October 4: v Sri Lanka: Abandoned without a ball bowled
October 8: Australia beat Pakistan by 107 runs
October 12: Australia beat India by 3 wickets
October 16: Australia beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets
October 22: Australia beat England by 6 wickets
October 25: v South Africa, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT
Finals
Semi-final 1: Guwahati, October 29, 8:30pm AEDT
Semi-final 2: Mumbai, October 30, 8:30pm AEDT
Final: Mumbai, November 2, 8:30pm AEDT
All matches to be broadcast exclusively live and free on Prime Video.
