Women's World Cup: Can Harmanpreet Kaur destroy Australia like she did back in 2017?

Harmanpreet Kaur smashed unbeaten 115-ball 171 against Australia back in the 2017 edition of Women's World Cup (BCCI Photo)

In the three World Cups that she has played since becoming a pivotal member of the India squad, Harmanpreet Kaur has scored at least one century. In 2013, as India departed a home World Cup before the knockout phase, she made 107* in a loss to England. In 2022, in New Zealand, there was a punishing knock of 109 as West Indies were thrashed in Hamilton. But the standout innings – and possibly the greatest ever played by a woman in ODIs – came in 2017, in the semi-final in Derby.

The opponents? Mighty Australia, the defending champions who had won six of their seven league matches. In a game reduced to 42 overs a side, and where no other Indian batter crossed 36, Harmanpreet smashed 20 fours and 7 sixes in an incredible unbeaten 115-ball 171. A high-class attack that had Megan Schutt, Ellyse Perry, Jess Jonassen and Ashleigh Gardner were taken apart as India finished with 281/4 before the bowlers sealed a 36-run upset victory.

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The parallels with this tournament are simply too many to ignore. Before that innings for the ages in Derby, Harmanpreet had scored 137 runs at an average of 27.4 and a strike-rate of 75.69. There had been just one half-century, a cautious 90-ball 60 that helped beat New Zealand. Then came the blitz that shook the ground beneath Australian feet, and she followed up with 51 (80 balls) in the final as India fell agonisingly short against the hosts.

In this tournament, Harmanpreet – now captain – has managed to get starts in every game. But, with the exception of a run-a-ball 70 against England, she hasn’t gone past 22. Both the average (25.16) and the strike-rate (86.28) are as modest as they were in 2017. So, can she do it again, as India seek redemption against an Australia side that they really should have beaten in the league phase?

Harmanpreet has averaged 33.13 and struck at a rate of 97.83 across 16 innings in 2025. Only twice has she been dismissed in single digits, but a tally of just one century (102 v England in Durham) and two 50s tells you just how much she has struggled to convert starts. The strike-rate would suggest that she isn’t out of form either. But while both Smriti Mandhana and the now-injured Pratika Rawal have aggregated over 300 runs, Harmanpreet has yet to deliver the defining innings that she’s capable of.

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Australia hammered England and pulverised South Africa – the other two semi-finalists – in an intimidating show of strength. But as she showed at the County Ground in Derby eight years ago, Harmanpreet will not blink in a face-off. With her appetite for the big occasion, and this almost certainly being her last (50-over) World Cup, there’s no better time for India’s captain to come to the party.