NEW DELHI: Phoebe Litchfield's dazzling 119, backed by fluent half-centuries from the seasoned Ellyse Perry (77) and Ashleigh Gardner (63), powered Australia to a commanding 338 against a sloppy Indian side in the second ICC Women’s World Cup semifinal in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
Litchfield's high quality knock included 17 fours and three sixes. Her lofted hits over the infield in the cover region were as spectacular as the two sixes she hit down the ground, one of which was hit on the second ball of the 27th over off Deepti Sharma. Litchfield put on 155 for the second wicket before missing a lap shot off Amanjot with Perry, who made a valuable 77 off 88 balls (6x4s, 2x6s).
During their innings, Australia shattered several records - here's a look at some of the key milestones.
* Litchfield made history by becoming the youngest batter (22 years and 195 days) to score a hundred in a Women's World Cup knockout game.
* She also broke the record of smashing the fastest-ever century (77 balls) in the history of Women's World Cup knockouts.
* Ashleigh Gardner (328 runs at 82, SR: 130.15) is the first to aggregate 300-plus runs from No. 6 or lower in a Women's ODI World Cup edition.
300-plus totals in Women's WC knockouts
356/5 - AUS-W vs ENG-W, Christchurch, 2022 Final
338 - AUS-W vs IND-W, Mumbai DYP, 2025 SF
319/7 - SA-W vs ENG-W, Guwahati, 2025 SF
305/3 - AUS-W vs WI-W, Wellington 2022 SF
* Australia's 338 is the highest first-innings total vs India in World Cups, surpassing England's 288/8 in Indore earlier this month.
* Only once has a team gunned down a 200-plus target in the semi-final or final of the Women’s WC: England chased down 219 with 2 wickets and 2 balls remaining vs South Africa in the 2017 semifinal in Bristol.
Most individual 100s in a single WC edition
6 - Australia Women in 2025*
5 - England Women in 1993
5 - England Women in 2017
Deepti Sharma's 2/73 is the most expensive bowling returns in a WC knockout, surpassing Sophie Ecclestone's 1/71 in the 2022 final.
