How to beat the unbeatable – can anybody stop Australia?

One particular question has been making the rounds throughout the Women’s World Cup group stage and with the upcoming semi-finals in hand.

How can Australia defeat you?

The defending champions have reached the knockouts unbeaten, the group stage culminating in their most convincing win so far as they bowled out South Africa – who are England’s semi-final opponents – for just 97.

Even their worst mistake, the 76-7 defeat to Pakistan, served as a testament to why they are such heavy favorites, as Beth Mooney’s century brought them back to 221-9.

They are unwaveringly confident in their staggering batting depth, and part of what makes them so difficult to beat is the sheer volume of all-rounders. Of the XI that beat England comfortably in Indore, eight of them were genuine bowling options.

Alyssa Healy, Australia’s captain, said there was no doubt they would win the game, but the team fell to 68-4 in the end.

Healy stated on the BBC’s No Balls podcast that “the nature of the tournament has been where teams have struggled at the top.”

“I’ve been saying the whole way you’ve got to back your depth. No matter what the circumstance, they continue to step up, hold their ground, and complete the task.

“There was anxiety [against England], but I don’t believe there ever was.”

Between the 2022 World Cup and the start of this edition, Australia played 31 one-day internationals, winning 26 and losing four, with one washed out.

Since being eliminated from the previous four by India in 2017, which launched this incredible run, they have not lost a World Cup game.

The other semi-finalists, however, suffered two defeats in the 2023 Ashes and one each against India and South Africa, two of which came against England.

For the past few years of dominance, Australia has been distinguished by the aforementioned batting depth.

Even if a top-order scuffle occurs, they have a long safety net thanks to the formidable luxury of Tahlia McGrath and Georgia Wareham at seven and, when they can get in the side, Georgia Wareham. They also have crucial grit and mentality from 1-11, which ensure that someone always catches them.

It also means they can be more aggressive earlier, and take more risks rather than worrying about wickets in hand. Their powerplay run-rate of 6.26, the highest in the tournament, and their strike-rates of 102.2% against pace and 92.3% against spin reflect this.

Crucially, this also makes their batting a team effort, with no particular need for one or two world-class players.

They are averaging 73 for the first wicket – although that was as high as 89.8 when Healy was with Phoebe Litchfield – even before you get to the powerhouses in the middle.

The top three or four of the world’s top three or four would be followed by Skipper Healy and Ash Gardner, who both have unbeaten 98 and Mooney have one century.

Sutherland, who had not scored in double figures in three innings against England, has since truly established herself as one of the best all-rounders in the world.

Sutherland, who has dominated the ball for years and has used the short ball wisely to end the group stage with 15 wickets, joint top with India’s Deepti Sharma, has also led the charge in the ball with the ball.

However, one area where teams could target Australia is in the powerplay with the ball as quicks Kim Garth, Darcie Brown and Megan Schutt have struggled at times on surfaces which have either been flat or spin-friendly.

Only Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and New Zealand are ranked below them for their average bowling in the opening partnership (47 runs per over, 5 33 runs per over), but both South Africa and England have taken the second-most wickets of the eight teams (24).

Sutherland has frequently been used to regain control of the situation, but leg-spinner Alana King, whose recent 1-20 and 7-18 victories against England and South Africa have come at the ideal moment given their slow start to the tournament, has been particularly effective. It means their spinners have the best average too.

Although the batting line-up has a few strong players, it might seem like bowling might be the best option.

Teams could look for early breakthroughs and hope that it will result in them falling short of a high score because they have been exceptional when chasing but have had their two wobbles (against New Zealand and Pakistan) when batting first.

Despite losing three games in the group stages, India – their semi-final opponents – still feel the most likely team to beat them, having posted 330 against them in the pick of the group-stage games, only for it to prove at least 20 runs short.

They will likely have a favorable home crowd in their favor as they are the most recent team to defeat Australia in an ODI match, winning the pre-World Cup series by beating them 2-1.

It makes for a fascinating batting match-up. Similarly, India have a very strong opening partnership in Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal, who are averaging 82.8, but the latter may be a doubt for the semi-finals after sustaining an injury to her knee and ankle in the field against Bangladesh.

Although they have a lot of batting depth, the difference in their bowling game might be that. With fewer all-rounders, India prefers to use the extra batter and five bowlers, which helped Australia defeat Australia 330 with relative ease, so they are still looking for the right balance in their XI.

For England, they are outperforming their rivals with the ball in both the powerplay and the death overs, while their spin attack has taken the second-most wickets (37) and has the second-best average (19.2).

However, they are significantly behind with the bat, hitting at 85.8% and 74 respectively against pace and spin, which is particularly troubling in middle overs, where they average 4.55 runs per over on average at 34.

South Africa, on the other hand, has the best economic powerplay bowling record, which, given Australia’s top-order strength, could make a good match.

They also have considerably the best batting record between overs 41-50, thanks to the lower order power-hitting of Nadine de Klerk in clutch chases against India and Bangladesh. They average 53 overs (41-50), with Australia’s 31.3 being the next best.

However, the key to the challenge of facing Australia comes from the mind, not from stats alone.

Whoever is to beat them knows they must put out pretty much the perfect performance under the highest pressure, and even then they might still be relying on Australia to make a few mistakes of their own.

Speaking of which, Australia’s field mistakes are uncommon; they account for almost 77% of their catch percentage, which puts them in second place overall.