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The Indian and Australian cricketers are wearing black armbands in memory of Ben Austin during their ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 semi-final at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on Thursday. In a tragic incident, 17-year-old Australian cricketer Ben Austin lost his life after being struck on the neck while training in the nets at the Ferntree Gully Cricket Club in Melbourne. ICC Women’s World Cup 2025: India Vs Australia, Semifinal – Live Score What Happened To Ben Austin? Austin was practising with a helmet but reportedly without a neck guard when he was hit by a delivery from a wanger, a hand-held ball-throwing device. Emergency workers attended to him around 5 PM, and he was rushed to the hospital and placed on life support, but he did not survive. The Ferntree Gully Cricket Club confirmed the heartbreaking news through a Facebook post and urged fans to place their bats outside in Austin’s memory, a gesture reminiscent of the tribute paid to Phil Hughes when he passed away in 2014. Cricket bats, flowers and notes make an impromptu tribute Thursday, October 30, 2025, for a teenage cricket player who died in a training accident in Melbourne, Australia. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP) As a mark of respect, several players in the ongoing Sheffield Shield round wore black armbands to honour the young cricketer’s memory. What About IND-W vs AUS-W? Australia captain Alyssa Healy won the toss and chose to bat against India in the second semifinal. For India, Shafali Verma replaced Pratika Rawal, who has been ruled out of the tournament, while Uma Chetry and Harleen Deol made way for Richa Ghosh and Kranti Gaud. Healy returned for Australia alongside Sophie Molineux, replacing Georgia Wareham and Georgia Voll in the XI. Seven-time champions Australia come into the match with six wins in their seven league games, the other being a washout. India have twice been runners-up, in 2005 and 2017 — when they beat Australia in the semi-finals before losing to England. Since that semi-final defeat Australia have been on a roll with 15 ODI World Cup wins in a row. The winner of this match will face South Africa in the final on Sunday. (With inputs from Agencies)
