Lichfield’s century, Perry and Gardner’s half-centuries, Australia set the target of 339 runs.

Thanks to the historic century of opener Phoebe Lichfield and half-centuries of all-rounders Ashley Gardner and Ellyse Perry, Australia scored a huge score of 338 runs in 49.5 overs in the ICC Women’s World Cup semi-final match against India on Thursday. Lichfield’s historic century made her the youngest player to score a Women’s World Cup knockout century. Her 155-run partnership with Ellyse Perry put Australia in a strong position at 180/2. But India made a comeback and restricted Australia to 265/6. Later, Gardner and Kim Garth’s 66-run partnership for the seventh wicket took Australia to 338 in 49.5 overs. This is the second highest score in a Women’s World Cup knockout match, before Australia scored 356/5 against England in the final of the 2022 edition.

 

After Australia batted first at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, Lichfield, along with the experienced Ellyse Perry, helped the Australian team overcome the loss of the early wicket of captain Alyssa Healy. He scored 119 runs in 93 balls with the help of 17 fours and three sixes. His strike rate was 127.95. He continued his golden run against India, scoring 627 runs at an average of 69.66 in nine innings against them, including two centuries, four fifties and a best score of 119. She has never been out for less than 25 runs against India in women’s ODI matches.

 

She has become the third Australian player to score a century in a 50-over World Cup knockout match, joining captain Healy (170 against England in the 2022 World Cup final and 129 against West Indies in the 2022 semi-final) and Karen Rolton (107* against India in the 2005 edition final). At the age of 22 years and 195 days, she is the second youngest Australian player to score a century in the Women’s World Cup.

Lichfield shared a 155-run partnership with Perry (77 from 88 balls with six fours and two sixes), laying a strong foundation for the Australians at 180/2 when Amanjot Kaur (1 for 51) uprooted the centurion’s stumps. Sri Charani (2 for 49) and Radha Yadav (1 for 66) took Australia to 265/6 in 41.4 overs, despite Perry’s half-century.