'Don't Have Words': Harmanpreet Kaur Reflects Back At Hard Work And Learnings After India's Semifinal Win Over Australia

India vs Australia Semifinal, ICC Women's World Cup 2025: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was at a loss for words after her team stormed into the Women's ODI World Cup final, but she did make a point to say that the players have already set their sights on the summit clash and are determined to "give their best" against first-timers South Africa.

Jemimah Rodrigues played the innings of her life, smashing an unbeaten century as India chased down a record 339-run target to beat defending champions Australia by five wickets in the semifinal in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.

"Very proud. I don't have words to express myself. Feeling great, this time we have crossed that line which we have been working towards for so many years," Harmanpreet said during the post-match presentation. "One more game to go. Today, we all played well, happy with the result. But we have already started speaking about the next game, which shows how focused we are and how keen we are to win the World Cup.

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"Playing in the home World Cup is special, and we want to give back to our fans and families. One more game to go, and we will give our best." Chasing the target, Rodrigues anchored the innings brilliantly with an unbeaten 127 off 134 balls, while Harmanpreet struck a fluent 89 off 88 deliveries.

The Indian skipper lauded Rodrigues for showing maturity and composure under pressure.

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"She (Rodrigues) is someone who always wants to do well for the team. Always very calculative and wants to take responsibility. We always have that trust in her. Both of us had a good time on the pitch. Whenever we were batting, we were complementing each other and calculating," she said.

Harmanpreet and Rodrigues shared a 167-run stand to lay the foundation of the record chase. "Really enjoy batting with her. She is always telling me we have five runs, seven runs, two balls are left. That shows how involved she is. Amazed to see how she was thinking. Lots of credit to her, to hold her nerve and keep batting for the team," she said.

Reflecting on the lessons from India's narrow four-run defeat against England earlier in the tournament, Harmanpreet said the team had learned to manage crucial overs better. "That day (against England), we realised we didn't execute well. We were late by 2-3 overs and could've taken risks earlier — that cost us. Today, we wanted to be calculative and finish it before the 50th over," she said.

Speaking about her conversation with head coach Amol Muzumdar after the win, the skipper said: "We spoke about how all the hard work has paid off. Both of us are proud of this team. We trust that any player can win a match from any situation. We've made mistakes, but we've kept learning from them.