Australia are through to the final: Nothing really new to be said about this side but feel like it is worth reiterating the numbers.

Since the 2017 CWC semifinal:

Played 41 ODIs. Won 39, lost 2.

A 26-match world record streak.

Now at the World Cup: 8 wins out of 8 to reach final.

What an incredible side. Hats off!

West Indies: 148/8 (37), Australia win by 157 runs: That is as comprehensive a performance as it could have been. A bit of a sombre end to the match it must be said, with Australian players all masked up and following Covid precautions. Alyssa Healy declared player of the match and there is really no doubting who had the biggest impact on this match. She says her tournament has been a bit all over the place, but speaks about the importance of patient and the calm that Haynes brings. What a pair, what a team.

AUS win by 157 runs! WI will not have Henry and Mohammed batting and that means with the wicket of Taylor, this semifinal is complete. Australia are back in the final!

36.6: Taylor c Jonassen b King 48 (75 balls)

35.2: WICKET! Ramharack lbw b Gardner 7 (15 balls) Next ball, Gardner strikes anyway. Slog from Ramharack, missed, plumb in front. Review lost.

Over 35.1: We have been all praise for Australia’s intensity today and there is perhaps their first real mistake on the field as Sutherland puts Taylor down at long on.

West Indies 145/6 after 35 overs: A single each for Taylor and Ramharack in King’s over.

As per the broadcast there is good chance we might not see Henry and Mohammed bat. If that is the case, just a couple of wickets away now Australia.

West Indies 143/6 after 34 overs: A fine sweep (as fine as is possible) by Taylor for four off Gardner. The captain moves on to 45.

West Indies 138/6 after 33 overs: A full toss from King and Taylor puts it away for four. The required rate has hit 14. Think fair to say that’s beyond reach, but will be good to see Taylor finishing well here.

West Indies 132/6 after 32 overs: No let up from Australia.

West Indies 126/6 (30.0) Correction: Require 180 runs in 90 balls to win.

West Indies are losing wickets in a hurry. Taylor still in the middle but the match is all but over.

29.6: WICKET! Knight b Jonassen 0 (2 balls): Two wickets in one over, as the run out is followed by a bowled. Knight goes for a big shot but misses.

29.4: WICKET! Nation run out Healy 7 (6 balls) Healy’s day out! Nation taps one to short-fine region and sets off for a second run, the Aussie WK nails a direct hit after a short sprint. Brilliant.

West Indies 124/4 after 29 overs: Nation! Six off Sutherland.

28.3: WICKET! Campbelle c Jonassen b Sutherland 8 (23 balls) Campbelle has been trying to remain busy but that extra bounce that Brown and Sutherland have found on this pitch, makes a difference there. Easy catch at midwicket.

Reminder about playing conditions:

“...only if the minimum number of overs necessary to constitute a match cannot be bowled on the scheduled day will the match be completed on the reserve day.”

So we will now have a result today even if bad light / rain comes in.

West Indies 117/3 after 28 overs: Taylor didn’t turn back for a third run and Sthalekar mentions again that she is not switched on enough. The Aussie spirit in the former World Cup winner quite evident, even if it is talking about the opposition.

Lisa Sthalekar (on WI’s approach): I am not sure what they are trying to gain from this.

West Indies 106/3 after 26 overs: Tight over from Jonassen, Brown will continue from the other end. There seems to be another cloud of mist around the ground, the required rate is over 10.

West Indies 103/3 after 25 overs: Darcie Brown comes on, as if to say we are not done with you yet.

The match is all but over (has been for a while I suppose) but Australia are still relentless. The bowling changes, fielding intensity, the attacking lengths, frustration at the rare mistake... so immense.

West Indies 99/3 after 24 overs: Taylor continues to remain busy in this phase, a four in that Gardner over.

22.4: WICKET! Matthews c King b Jonassen 34 (49 balls) Jonassen comes on and Matthews falls. Tries to go big to relieve some scoreboard pressure, but can only find King.

Matthews and Taylor are now constantly looking for scoring options, that is good to see. But Australia’s fielding is not making it any easier.

West Indies 80/2 after 20 overs: Intent from Taylor, taking on Gardner down the ground for a four. Gardner then beats Matthews with a beaut.

Gardner continues, you feel like something’s gotta give at the moment.

West Indies 74/2 after 19 overs: Scoreboard ticking over slowly. 17 runs in the last 5 overs. Required rate nears 9.

West Indies 67/2 after 17 overs: King things she has a wicket in her first over, Taylor is given out caught but there was no glove. And LBW is checked too. DRS comes to Taylor’s rescue.

West Indies 66/2 after 16 overs: Matthews had some issue with her leg earlier, but has just run three twos in McGrath’s over. Great commitment. DRINKS.

West Indies 60/2 after 15 overs: Not quite sure there is too much logic in delaying the inevitable if that’s what WI are planning at the moment. Taylor on 3 off 19. No NRR or anything, maybe it would make sense to have a go? Just a thought. Of course, this Aussie bowling unit is also relentless.

West Indies 57/2 after 14 overs: Dot balls have been an issue all tournament for WI.

West Indies 55/2 after 13 overs: Stafanie Taylor will take her time to get going but the match is already slipping well out of reach. Required rate is nearly 8.

And King will soon come back on as Sutherland continues for now.

West Indies 53/2 after 12 overs: Tidy from McGrath. We are told King is still off the field.

West Indies 51/2 after 11 overs: Nice shot from Matthews for four off Sutherland. Still limping a bit, but might just be cramp on her leg.

West Indies 46/2 after 10 overs: That’s the big wicket and you fear for West Indies from here. Dottin looked in good touch but McGrath gets the big wicket.

9.3: WICKET! Dottin c Sutherland b McGrath 34 (35b) An early end to a promising innings. And that probably is that for West Indies (especially with Matthews too not fully fit it looks like). After a superb four over cover, Dottin finds the fielder at long on, deceived by what seemed like change of pace.

End of powerplay, time for Tahlia McGrath. And ouch, looks like Matthews too has an issue with her right leg.

West Indies 39/1 after 9 overs: Sutherland comes on, Dottin finishes that over with a four.

West Indies 32/1 after 8 overs: Great fielding from King to prevent a boundary.

West Indies 28/1 after 7 overs: Just a couple of runs in Schutt’s over, then Dottin goes after Brown again with a couple of fours. She is looking in good touch.

West Indies 15/1 after 5 overs: After 9 dot balls, Williams must have thought she got a short ball to get off the mark. Mooney felt otherwise. Matthews in the middle now. 3 runs from Brown’s over.

3.5: WICKET! Williams c Mooney b Schutt 0 (10 balls): BETH MOONEY CAN FLY! What a stunner. The Aussie star has a knack of pulling off these blinders and she does it again. Rashada Williams is out for 0.

West Indie 11/0 after 3 overs: A 1-run over from Schutt to start off. Dottin with another boundary at the start of Brown’s over.

West Indie 5/0 after 1 over: Well, that’s intent alright. Dottin slaps one through cover for four off Brown to start off. Nearly lobs one to point then.

Target for WI: 306 (45 overs) Right then, the chase is about to begin. Deandra Dottin walking out with Rashada Williams. (As they were slated to against SA as well in the washed out match). The match, as the cliche goes, is not over yet. Can Dottin get them off to a flier?

Innings break: Of all the things great about this Australian side, just how good are they tactically. Let go of so many balls at the top, played within the line of the ball, were OK with getting beaten. Haynes took charge early. Then just pushed on big time once it eased out.

The run-chase will begin shortly.

Innings break: It was not the easiest of wickets to bat at the start. Healy, Haynes took their time. But how well did they make it count! WI were sloppy on the field for the most part pretty much and with their bowling too at times but even so, that is a great batting display. Just Australia things.

End of innings, Australia 305/3 after 45 overs: Five runs off Connell’s last over, she finishes with solid figures of 1/45 off her 8 overs, given the circumstances. But Australia have just eased to 305 in a 45-over innings.

Australia 300/3 after 44 overs: Mooney and Lanning take Australia to 300 with one over to go. All running in that Matthews over, 7 runs.

Australia 293/3 after 43 overs: Three fours in the Taylor over! Beth Mooney, seemingly struggling a little for timing and placement since coming to the middle, has now moved on to 36 off 25 balls. What even to say about her! Ridiculous, ridiculous cricketer.

Australia 277/3 after 42 overs: The timing and placement for the big shots not quite there but still six runs from that over.

Australia 271/3 after 41 overs: Karishma Ramharack finishes her bowling for this match (and maybe, the World Cup) without a wicket. Deserved better today.

Australia 265/3 after 40 overs: Tidy over from Matthews. The big boundary-filled acceleration has not quite happened for Australia yet, the wicket of Gardner was crucial. Of course still 5 overs to go.

Australia 260/3 after 39 overs: A no ball for not having enough fielders in the circle. Sums up WI’s morning so far. No boundaries still 10 runs in that Ramharack over!

Australia 250/3 after 38 overs: Tidy over from Henry. You sense another gear shift is imminent.

Australia 246/3 after 37 overs: Unfortunately for WI, the reward for two quick wickets is Lanning and Mooney in the middle now.

35.6: WICKET! Gardner c Campbelle b Henry 12 (8 balls): Good delivery in the channel, Gardner has her issues there. Edged behind.

35.1: WICKET! Haynes c Dottin b Henry 85 (100 balls) Dottin can barely smile. She takes the catch, throws the ball back in disgust. End of another fine innings from Haynes.

Australia 231/0 after 35 overs: A few short balls from Connell. Testing Haynes a bit.

Australia send in Ash Gardner to presumably just unleash from the word go.

Australia send in Ash Gardner to presumably just unleash from the word go.

WICKET! Healy c sub (Selman) b Connell 129 (107 balls): Finally, FINALLY, West Indies hold on to a catch. Healy’s innings comes to an end on 129 off 107, the partnership ends at 216. Stunning.

STAT: First double century partnership in a Women’s World Cup knock-out match (via @hypocaust)

The 200-run stand comes off a misfield from Dottin that goes for four.

Australia 199/0 after 31 overs: The boundaries are starting to flow now. This is looking rather desperate for WI.

Australia 186/0 after 30 overs

CENTURY: What a stunning innings. At just after the powerplay mark, Healy was on 11 off 29 balls. She has now reached a century off 91 balls. What a player.

And now Anisa Mohammed has pulled up while chasing a ball to the fence. In a lot of pain. Looking really bad, the cart is being brought out. This is turning into a long list of things that could go wrong, going wrong for WI.

Australia 143/0 after 26 overs: OH NO! DROPPED! Karishma Ramharack has just seen two sitters put down off her bowling. Both times Rachael Haynes. By Hayley Matthews of all people the second time around.

Australia 136/0 after 25 overs: OH DEAR! Connell drops a sitter at midwicket as Haynes mishits one off Ramharack. Turning into a nightmare for WI this. Taylor comes onto bowl her first, 4 run over.

Not for one moment am I suggesting West Indies didn’t deserve to be here but this was going to be a problem for the semifinals as a contest. Their’s campaign had just gone off the rails after a good start, had very little momentum latter half. Unfortunate. India or New Zealand might be facing such issues against Australia too but they were finding their groove as the tournament went on, WI had just simply collapsed after a good start (albeit briefly doing well against SA)

Score correction: Australia 132/0 after 24 overs:

Australia 132/0 after 24 overs: Massive. They have gone after Dottin and it’s a 18-run over this time. 0/31 for the WI allrounder in 3 overs who doesn’t look pleased.

HALF CENTURY FOR HAYNES, HALF CENTURY FOR HEALY: Problems for West Indies. Australia 106/0 after 22 overs

Australia 100/0 after 20 overs: A century partnership... both Alyssa Healy and Rachael Haynes timing it well... Australia on the charge in Wellington

Australia 78/0 after 17 overs: Couple of delightful deliveries from Matthews to Haynes! Angled in, straightens late with spin off the wicket, beats outside edge. But again, no wickets.

Score correction: Australia 76/0 after 16 overs:

Australia 76/0 after 16 overs: Good stump-to-stump stuff from Ramharack in that over. Couple of singles.

Anisa Mohammed’s struggles mean it will be Karishma Ramharack after the drinks break.

Australia 74/0 after 15 overs: And now Healy taking on Matthews. Good use of the sweep shots. Yep, that’s Australia on their way now. Moving through the gears after a cautious start.

Australia 64/0 after 14 overs: The pressure is being kept up by Matthews from one end but Australia have taken on Anisa Mohammed big time. 20/0 from her 2 overs so far! Two fours in her 2nd over.

Frankie Mackay on air and she starts off with “nowhere I’d rather be!” (Adds of course would have been better to be in the middle but apart from that...)

Australia 50/0 after 12 overs: It’s not been easy out there but Haynes-Healy have put together a 50-run opening partnership. A rank full toss from Mohammed in that over, no timing at all from Healy, but goes for four. Story of the morning so far.

Australia 43/0 after 11 overs: Another steady from Matthews.

Plenty of endeavour from West Indies but feels like they missed a trick by not attacking the stumps or thereabouts early on. Now potentially with conditions starting to clear up, they have to bowl at two set openers and what’s to follow.

Australia 41/0 after 10 overs: Not for the first time today, a WI bowler slips on the follow through. Henry this time. Healy taking her time here. Might just see her explode now.

Australia 37/0 after 9 overs: Ohhhh, turn and bounce for Matthews! That’s a good sight for the spin-heavy lineup. Moisture / grass on the pitch, it must be said, is also good news for spinners. End of the powerplay overs.

Australia 36/0 after 8 overs: The boundaries are starting to flow for Haynes. Couple in Henry’s over.

Australia 23/0 after 6 overs: DROPPED! Never easy for a pacer to change direction on followthrough but Henry could have done better there. Healy gets a life. Came at a good height.

Australia 21/0 after 5 overs: Haynes under pressure? Out comes a release shot. Pulls one for four.

She is 25 years old, in case you didn’t know.

Australia 14/0 after 4.1 overs: WI lose one review. Agenbag has been brilliant in this WC and she gets the decision right as WI went up for caught behind. Another peach to beat Haynes but she is still there.

Australia 14/0 after 4 overs: Lovely over from Henry to Haynes, with a couple of peaches. WI might be missing an extra seamer here.

Australia 13/0 after 3 overs: There is some bounce on offer for sure... Connell bowling a 5th-6th stump line to Healy. Couple of wides, couple left alone, Healy then cuts one past point for a couple.

Australia 9/0 after 2 overs: Going by just the first couple of overs, fair to say Australia will be looking for a strong powerplay... a hint of extra bounce from Henry at the end of that over. Interesting.

Australia 4/0 after 1 over: A delightful square drive from Haynes for four. No real movement in the air there in that over. Tidy over from Connell otherwise though.

Rachael Haynes and Alyssa Healy in the middle. What an opening pair! WI will be desperate for an early breakthrough (not that things get easy after that but still...) Shamilia Connell to start us off.

National anthems: Rallyyyyyy! Followed by Advance Australia Fair.

Confirmation of playing XIs:

Australia: Alyssa Healy, Rachael Haynes, Meg Lanning, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Annabel Sutherland, Ash Gardner, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown

West Indies: Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews, Rashada Williams, Stafanie Taylor, Shemaine Campbelle, Chedean Nation, Kycia Knight, Chinelle Henry, Anisa Mohammed, Karishma Ramharack, Shamilia Connell

Pitch report: Decent amount of grass left on the pitch, Mackay tell us. If West Indies can take early advantage of it, things could interesting...

Team news

Australia unchanged from their Bangladesh match as we had estimated, given Ellyse Perry was unavailable.

WI bring in Anisha Mohammed for Afy Fletcher, who misses out due to Covid-19. Not a bad replacement, to be fair, to bring in your leading wicket-taker.

TOSS: Stafanie Taylor wins the toss and opts to bowl first in gloomy conditions on a fresh pitch. Should be interesting.

Revised playing conditions.

04.44 am: If like me you were hoping to avoid some tough memories on this Wednesday early morning, too late, the IND-SA highlights package went till Harmanpreet Kaur’s two wickets that gave hope.

Really will be quite something if we get another 42-over-a-side World Cup semifinal involving Australia, five years after *that* game in Derby. But we wait for confirmation. Could be a couple more...

That’s in 10 mins from now, toss at 4.45 am and play to start at 5.15 am IST.

4.26 am: Just a few different versions of “covers coming off” so hopefully good news around the corner.

4.25 am: Please give us live broadcast before this IND-SA highlights package goes any deeper, Wellington. It’s too much, too soon! (And as we say that, the covers are coming off we see...)

4.08 am: Inspection coming up in about 22 minutes from now (noon local time, 430 am IST). Enough time for a nap, maybe?

03.50 am: In case you missed it...

Meg Lanning on preparing for an inconsistent side like West Indies:

We’re preparing for their best and their best is very dangerous. And they’ve got a number of world-class players who can take the game away from you very quickly. So that’s the way that we’re looking at it. We’re expecting them to come out there and play well. Not only have they got some incredible batters, but their bowling lineup is dangerous as well. Connell has been bowling extremely well up front, Hayley Matthews has shown with the new ball that she can certainly play a role. So as a group, we’ve been very focused on preparing for their best play and their best game. And, we know and understand that we’re going to have to be prepared to take some pressure from them and take a bit of heat and then push back when we need to. So it’s an exciting opportunity. And I know everyone’s just looking forward to getting out there.

— Press conference on Tuesday

03.34 am: In case you missed this yesterday, a glimpse into what makes this Australian side great.

West Indies’ road to the semifinal:

The West Indies have endured a turbulent campaign as three wins, three losses and that washed-out clash against South Africa hauled them into their second ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup semi-final.

And those three victories were all secured in breath-taking fashion, battling past New Zealand, England and Bangladesh by the barest of margins to keep Stafanie Taylor’s side in contention.

Defeats against Australia, Pakistan and India slightly derailed their progress, but the Maroon Warriors are clearly made of stern stuff after that hat-trick of thrilling victories.

They beat New Zealand by three runs – in the first game of the tournament – England by seven and Bangladesh by four as they boldly defended their totals to help edge into the semi-finals.

And after edging into the top four on the back of South Africa’s win against India, they will hope to return to early tournament form to cause a massive upset.

Australia’s road to semifinal:
Meg Lanning’s Australia look the unequivocal team to beat after enjoying a searing unbeaten campaign.

Lanning’s star-studded outfit racked up an imperious seven wins from seven as they successfully booked their place in the semi-finals with two games to spare.

And there have been no shortage of stand-out performances along the way, with Lanning’s brilliant 135 not out against South Africa, Rachael Haynes’ century against England and Ashleigh Gardner, Jess Jonassen and Alana King’s haul of 24 wickets between them helping fire the six-time champions into the semi-finals.

A nerve-jangling 12-run win over England, a dominant 141-run triumph over New Zealand and confident chases against India (albeit that got a bit nervy at the end) and West Indies helped cap a dominant campaign as Australia bid to emulate those performance levels heading into yet another ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup semi-final.

Indeed one of their biggest tests came against Bangladesh in the final league match at this venue when the Asian side gave them an almighty scare with their bowling effort before, surprise surprise, Mooney came to their rescue.

03.13 am: Not the most ideal scenes to get us going. Toss has been delayed but the word from Basin Reserve is a start should be possible soon. It is apparently not really raining but the mist and the evident wet outfield, with covers still on, means we are not able to start on time. Mel Jones on air sounded optimistic we should have play soon and that forecast is fine, but we do have the reserve day as well for the semifinals if needed.

03.10 am: Hello all and welcome to the live coverage of the first semi-final between Australia and West Indies at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022. The venue is Basin Reserve in Wellington for this one.

Match 29, semi-final 1 of this year’s tournament will feature Australia against West Indies in their eighth head-to-head ICC Women’s World Cup match. Australia have the historical edge winning six of those seven contests, their latest being a seven-wicket triumph in the group stage of this edition. They have played only seven ODIs between them, excluding the World Cups. Australia are unbeaten, winning all seven encounters. They last played a bilateral series in 2019 at Antigua, and it was won by Australia 3-0.

Screenshots in the blog courtesy ICC Match Centre / Disney+Hotstar.

Stats in the blog courtesy ESPNCricinfo Statsguru.

With inputs from ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2020 via Media Zone