Australia become first team to qualify for semi-finals as Lanning, Healy star against India

Chasing 278 for the win, the game went into the final over but Beth Mooney finished the game off in style as Australia became the first team to book a berth in the semi-finals of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022.

With the win, Australia also broke the record for the highest successful run-chase in Women's World Cup history, surpassing the one they set against Sri Lanka in the 2017 edition of the tournament.

Alyssa Healy, along with Rachael Haynes, took the game away from India with a brilliant 121-run opening stand. With wickets in hand, Lanning's spectacular innings of 97 got Australia close to the finish line before Mooney took the team home in the final over.

Healy set the tone from the get-go, smashing five boundaries in the first five overs to get Australia off to a flying start. Rachael Haynes, who was mostly a silent spectator in the early exchanges, wasn't to be left far behind as she too got in on the act, finishing the Powerplay at a run-a-ball 25.

Australia looked in command throughout, and apart from a couple of run-out opportunities, didn't really offer India any chances on the field.

Healy slowed down after the fielding restriction were lifted and got to her 15th ODI fifty. India, on the other hand, desperate for wickets burnt both their reviews in consecutive overs to lbw decisions.

The opening pair brought up the second 100-run opening stand in this edition of the World Cup – the first one being the partnership between Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews, which also came against India.

India finally broke through in the 20th over with the wicket of Healy. The reverse-sweep off Sneh Rana went straight into the hands of Mithali Raj at third, thus breaking the 121-run stand.

One wicket brought two as Vastrakar's well-directed short-ball hurried Raynes, edging the ball to the gloves of Richa Ghosh. At the halfway stage, Australia were 142/2, still 136 runs away from a win with Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry at the crease.

The pair did not allow the pressure of quick wickets to get to them, scoring boundaries regularly to keep the required rate in check. Indian bowlers were guilty of bowling too many balls short of length and Lanning happily put them away for boundaries.

The Australian skipper soon brought up her fifty off just 56 balls while Perry was happy to play second fiddle at the other end. The pair soon brought up the 100-run stand, the second of the Australian innings, before rain halted play in the 41st over, at which point Australia needed 53 from 54 and were 28 runs ahead of the DLS par score.

The rain halt proved to be a welcome break for India as they struck in just the third ball after play commenced by removing Perry. Lanning and Mooney, however, scored at a brisk rate to ensure the required run rate doesn't go out of hand.

Needing 13 off 18, a couple of tight overs put Australia under the pump. The wicket of Lanning, who fell three runs short of a century, courtesy of a good catch by Vastrakar, sent some jitters in the Australian dressing room.

Australia needed 8 off the final overs and a boundary off the first ball by Mooney took the pressure off the team. They took two more off the second ball before a boundary on the third ball sealed the game for Australia.

Earlier, Mithali Raj (68), Yastika Bhatia (59) and Harmanpreet Kaur (57*) all scored well-compiled half-centuries, as India registered 277/7 from their 50 overs at Eden Park.

Raj and Bhatia helped pace the innings through the middle overs by putting on 130 runs for the third wicket, before Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar (34 off 28 balls) put the finishing touches on the innings with some lofty late blows.

Teenage quick Darcie Brown – who helped reduce India to 28/2 by picking up both openers during an excellent opening spell – was the pick of the Australia bowlers with 3/30, while Alana King (2/52) and Jess Jonassen (1/40) made up for an unusually wayward Ellyse Perry (0/24 from three overs).

Brown had Smriti Mandhana (10) caught at slip by Meg Lanning in the fourth over, before Beth Mooney pulled down a contender for catch of the tournament when she held on to a difficult chance at gully to send Shafali Verma (12) packing.

Bhatia and Raj then combined to take the score from 28/2 to 158/2 without taking too many risks, and it looked like India were well on their way to putting up a big total.

Brown returned to remove the dangerous Bhatia, before King chimed in with two wickets of her own to help slow the rate as Australia fought back hard.

But Kaur and Vastrakar had other ideas as they put on 64 at an excellent clip during the closing overs to ensure Australia will have a big total to chase.

Both teams made one change to their playing XI, with India including Verma at the top of the order as a replacement for Deepti Sharma and Brown replacing Annabel Sutherland for Australia.

India XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh, Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

Australia XI: Alyssa Healy, Rachael Haynes, Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown