Australia will meet India in the ICC Women’s World T20 final on Sunday at the magnificent Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Having lost to the Women in Blue by 17 runs in the opening match of the World T20, Meg Lanning and co. will look to settle the score as they will walk out in front of a packed MCG on March 8.
It will be one the greatest moments for both sides as they will take guard to fight for the coveted World Cup. Australia captain Meg Lanning says leading her side in a home World Cup final will be the biggest moment of her career.
The reigning champions will look to make it five out of seven times to continue their unmatched dominance over World T20.
Lanning, who has led her side to a World T20 title in 2018 is not oblivious to winning the Cup yet again. But with a jam-packed stadium witnessing the grand finale, things are surely going to be different. It is like a dream come true for both the finalists as they will be walking out to the middle with close to two hundred thousand eyeballs watching them in anticipation.
Instead of the immense crowd that is expected on the D-day, Lanning’s unwavering focus will be on making sure her side bags the World T20 title for the fifth time.
“We’re not coming just to put on a good show. We’re coming here to win and that’s the attitude we’re going in with.”
It’s been a long time coming and the build-up to the game is something I’ve not experienced before. It will be the biggest moment of my career. It’s a very exciting time for everyone to be involved in the bigger game there has ever been in women’s cricket.
“We haven’t played in front of a crowd this big before and we need to deal with that the best we can. We’ve had such a great tournament so far but there’s one more challenge to come on Sunday and it’s going to be our toughest one so far,” said Lanning.
There is no doubt that the hosts and four-time champs Australia were the pre-tournament favorites but as the tournament progressed it is now difficult to comment on who will take home the trophy. It is quite even now.
It’s been a topsy-turvy ride to the MCG for Australia after Poonam Yadav and India shocked them by clinching a thriller win in the tournament opener in Sydney.
The spin wizard’s heroics with the ball will be fresh in the mind of Aussies and they will be cautious before taking her on. With the likes of young guns like Radha Yadav and child prodigy Shafali Verma, Lanning and co. will be aware of the potential threats that India post.
“It’s not just Poonam we need to worry about. They’ve got some really good left-armers too, such as Rajeshwari Gayakwad. They’ve got a really strong line-up right through their bowlers and they have spinners who can change their pace.”
We will be facing some slow spinners at training. We’ll be as prepared as we can be and making sure we adjust to what’s happening at the time. Obviously Smriti Mandhana is a world-class player too and Deepti Sharma has also played well against us. We feel like our bowling line-up can adjust to different things. We are very well prepared for what the game will throw at us. It’s going to be a tough, hard battle tomorrow against India but I feel we are as ready as we can be to take it on,” averred Lanning.
Source: ICC Media Zone
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