A newly confident England will provide a new challenge when the World Cup’s two undefeated teams go head-to-head in Indore
Phoebe Litchfield has brushed off suggestions Australia will take a significant psychological edge into their blockbuster ODI World Cup clash against England, despite their Ashes demolition earlier this year.
Australia and England will go into Wednesday’s game in Indore as the tournament’s two undefeated teams, with Natalie Sciver-Brunt’s side bolstered by Sunday’s thrilling four-run win over India at the same venue.
The Aussies ground England into the dust during their unprecedented 16-0 clean sweep of the multi-format Ashes in January, forcing a reckoning that saw then-coach Jon Lewis and captain Heather Knight step down from their roles.
England have brought largely the same group of players to the World Cup as the demoralised outfit that departed Australian shores, but Litchfield said an ICC tournament, different conditions and a new-look leadership team of coach Charlotte Edwards and skipper Sciver-Brunt would provide a fresh playing field.
“We know England are top two, three in the world, and we’ve played them a lot quite recently,” Litchfield told cricket.com.au.
“They offer so much with the bat and the ball that you can’t take them lightly at all … and we know that even though we came off the Ashes 16-nil, we know that they’ll come pretty hard (at us), so we’re pretty excited for that.
“Indore when we played there last was a really good wicket, so I can imagine it’ll be a high run-scoring contest.”
Like Australia, England had their batting wobbles early in the tournament, escaping a tricky position against Bangladesh while they were staring down the barrel of a historic first loss to Pakistan in Colombo before that game was washed out.
But they will be buoyed with confidence following a stirring fightback with the ball against India.
The hosts had been seemingly cruising towards a target of 289 at Holkar Stadium at 3-234 needing around a run a ball, but England held their nerve to close out a four-run win.
England also took early bragging rights over Australia on the eve of the tournament, claiming a four-wicket win in their warm-up match in Bengaluru – albeit in a game where neither side played their strongest Xis and both kept plenty of cards up their sleeves.
“I find whenever I play as the underdog, it’s kind of nice … I wouldn’t say we’ve got anything over (England),” Litchfield continued.
“It feels like a very different time compared to when we’re in Australia.
“ICC tournaments are different in themselves. You don’t have time to play and then learn, it’s a one-off game.
“So it’s just like playing the first ODI back in North Sydney (at the start of the Ashes) … we’ve got to come with open eyes, open minds, and hopefully have a good day out there.”
The Australian squad had a two-day break from training following their arrival in Indore on Friday, taking the chance to refresh ahead of what promises to be two challenging final round games against semi-final bound rivals England and South Africa.
Australia started their campaign with an 89-run win over New Zealand at Holkar Stadium, and after navigating unknown venues in Colombo and Visakhapatnam, Litchfield said they would relish the chance to return to slightly more familiar territory.
“I think knowing that we’ve played there, we know what the pitch offers – it might be a different pitch when we get there – but we know the conditions, we’ve played there, so there’ll be a bit of familiarity amongst the unfamiliarity of India.”
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: v England, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT
October 25: v South Africa, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT
Finals
Semi-final 1: Guwahati or Colombo*, October 29, 8:30pm AEDT
Semi-final 2: Mumbai, October 30, 8:30pm AEDT
Final: Mumbai or Colombo*, November 2, 8:30pm AEDT
All matches to be broadcast exclusively live and free on Prime Video.
* All games involving Pakistan to be played in Colombo, including the semi-final and final if they qualify
