Captain Alyssa Healy has been ruled out of Australia's World Cup meeting with England on Wednesday with a calf injury. Healy sustained the minor strain in a training session on Saturday and Australia face an anxious wait to see if she will recover in time to play again at the 50-over tournament. Australia have booked their place in the semi-finals with two games to spare thanks to Healy's exploits - scoring 142 runs against India before hitting an unbeaten 113 against Bangladesh.

Beth Mooney will replace Healy as wicketkeeper with Tahlia McGrath set to captain the side. Georgia Voll is expected to step in at the top of the batting order. The defending champions sit top of the standings with four wins from their five matches. They lead 2022 runners-up England on net run rate before their encounter at Holkar Stadium in Indore. Both teams will be overtaken by South Africa if they win their game against Pakistan on Tuesday. South Africa and Australia finish their group stage fixtures by playing each other on Saturday in Indore. The top four teams in the table advance to the semi-finals.

Australia beat England in the 2022 World Cup final and are bidding for a record-extending eighth title. Healy faces a race against time to recover for the semi-finals with the first scheduled for 29 October in Guwahati or Colombo and the second due to take place the following day in Mumbai. The 35-year-old, who made her Australia debut in 2010, has endured a difficult time with injuries in recent years. She missed the final group game of the T20 World Cup in 2024 and was unavailable for their semi-final loss to South Africa with a plantar fascia issue.

Healy also missed large periods during the 2024-25 season with knee and foot problems keeping her sidelined for the majority of the Sydney Sixers' WBBL campaign, an ODI series against India, the T20 leg of the Ashes and a T20 tour of New Zealand. She returned from injury in August to play six white-ball matches for Australia A against India A in Queensland, before being named in the World Cup squad.