Team India and the defending champions Australia, have locked horns in the second semifinal of the Women's ODI World Cup 2025 at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday, October 30. The winner of the second semifinal will set up a title clash with South Africa, who qualified for the maiden ODI World Cup final by defeating England in the first semifinal.

Australia skipper Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to bat first against Harmanpreet Kaur-led Team India in an all-important clash of the Women's World Cup 2025. Openers Healy and Phoebe Litchfield gave the defending champions a steady start to their innings before the skipper was dismissed for 5 at 25/1 by Kranti Gaud before the rain lashed down heavily, forcing the players to leave the field quickly.

An early breakthrough gave India the perfect start as Alyssa Healy was a serious threat to Team India, given her 142-run knock against them in the league stage of the ongoing Women's ODI World Cup 2025.

Rain Halt India's Momentum

Just five overs and a half an hour into the semifinal clash, the heavens opened up with heavy rain, forcing the umpires to halt play. The downpour not only interrupted India's early momentum but also raised concerns about the possibility of washout of the semifinal clash.

As per Accuweather, Navi Mumbai is expected to have 7% chance of precipitation, but the cloud cover is likely to be at 99% in the evening. However, the semifinal between India and Australia is likely to be affected at night, as the temperature is likely to be reduced from 27 degrees Celsius to 24 degrees Celsius, with the possibility of rain is likely to be at 99% and the cloud cover at 90%.

This means there's a strong possibility that play might be interrupted again later in the evening.

This is not the first time the rain has interrupted the Women's World Cup 2025 match. The majority of the matches took place at the R Premadasa Stadium were affected by persistent rain and wet outfield conditions, leading to multiple delays and even a few abandoned games earlier in the tournament. Five out of 10 matches were washed out without a result, and Pakistan was affected the most by the weather interruptions as three of their league-stage matches were abandoned due to rain.

Moreover, India's final league match against Bangladesh was abandoned due to rain while the Women in Blue were chasing a 126-run target in a rain-reduced 27 overs. The rain denied India's hopes of finishing the group campaign on high, though they secured their final semifinal berth by defeating New Zealand.

What happens if the IND vs AUS Semifinal Gets Washed Out?

If the ongoing semifinal match between India and Australia gets abandoned due to rain, the reserve day will come into play as per the ICC's tournament regulations. In that case, the match will resume on October 31, Friday, from the exact point it was halted, maintaining conditions and score.

“The semifinals and final shall have a reserve day allocated on which an incomplete match shall be continued from the scheduled day. No other matches shall have a reserve day allocated.” Section 13.6 of the ICC's Playing Conditions states.

If the semifinal between India and Australia gets washed out on the reserve day, the team that finished higher on the points table in the group stage will qualify for the final. In this case, Australia have an edge over Team India to advance to the title clash against South Africa, having finished above India in the league stage. Australia were the table toppers, while India finished fourth on the points table.

Therefore, India will be knocked out of the tournament if rain washes out play on both the scheduled day and the reserve day. The Women in Blue will be hoping for clear skies and uninterrupted play to keep their maiden Women's World Cup title hopes alive.

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