Meg Lanning-led Australian team will be setting a new World record for most consecutive ODI wins if they win the first ODI of the series against New Zealand on 4th April 2021.
The previous record was set by the Australian men’s team when Ricky Ponting led his team to 21-consecutive wins in the year 2003. Australia Woman equaled the record in October 2020 by winning their 21st game (overall) against New Zealand in Brisbane. The streak started way back in 2018 when they defeated India, in Baroda, by 8 wickets.
Australian Women’s Cricket Team is just 1 ODI WIN away from creating a WORLD RECORD.
They now equal with the formidable Australian men’s team, who had also won 21 ODIs consecutively way back in 2003, under Ricky Ponting.@RickyPonting @AusWomenCricket @ahealy77 pic.twitter.com/3IG2UbgRsV
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) April 3, 2021
Ahead of their ODI series against New Zealand, Ricky Ponting has shared his thoughts upon the women team’s achievement. He says that he sees the same traits of his 2003 team in Lanning’s current team and feels that the ladies are all set to break his 18-year-old record and create history.
“Ricky Ponting is obviously a great of Australian and world cricket and they had an amazing team. If we were able to break that record, it would be a great achievement for the group. Those wins have come over a long period of time as well; it hasn’t been over a year or so, it’s been a two or three-year block which I think shows we’ve had some really good consistency,” said Lanning, skipper of the Australian team to Louis Cameron for cricket.com.au
Agreeing with what Lanning had to say, Ponting said that the women’s team has achieved a lot over the years and shall keep in mind the achievements before going on to play on Sunday. He also stressed how the girls should talk about the milestone beforehand and do not think or talk about it during the game.
Here’s Ricky Ponting’s advice to record-chasing Austrtain Women’s Cricket Team 👇👇 pic.twitter.com/YrsI2hjfiX
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) April 3, 2021
Here’s what he had to say-
“I think it’s obvious that Motty and the women have got an extremely hungry group of players. (Their streak) doesn’t happen without having a humble and hungry group of players.
I think the girls would lead the way with their own attitudes and keep stretching how good they want to be and I’m sure they want to be regarded and remembered as one of Australia’s best sporting teams – male or female.
Their performances for five or six years now certainly have backed that up.
Dominance Level = Australia 👏
21 Wins on the Trot. #AUSvNZ #AUSWvNZW pic.twitter.com/37Aq9PsWlB
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) April 2, 2021
I guess they probably have had more of a chance to think about it than what we did. Ours seemed to happen quite quickly and we were playing games (in quick succession), but they’ve had a long time now sitting on this equal number of wins to think about it.
Just get out there and play and do what they’ve been doing for so long. Because it’s obvious what they’ve been doing is working and working to a really high level.
So that’s all that I’d say to them, but I don’t think they need to hear anything from me, because they are a champion team with lots of champion players.
I’m sure they’ll get the job done when they get the chance.
When Lanning was asked whether she had this discussed with the team members, she said- “I don’t think it will be front and center of any of our discussions. Our approach doesn’t change, we want to get out there and win every game. It has been a little while since we played ODI cricket together as a team so we need to adjust to that format over the next couple of games.”
Meg Lannning and co. on the verge of creating another World Record tomorrow 😍 #NZvAUS pic.twitter.com/oJVfCiPvjP
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) April 3, 2021
Ponting also pointed out some similarities between his team and Lanning’s team. At first, he compared the men’s and women’s teams ruling performance in the World Cups over the years and then added- “That says that when the big moments come, we found players that would stand up under the most pressure and get the job done. The girls over this period as well have found themselves in trouble at some stage but someone just puts their hand up and turned it around for them.”
Another thing that was talked about was Ellyse Perry’s role in the game. After not being able to contribute much in the past year, and getting to bowl just one over in the T20I series, her presence in the ODI series is very much looked forward to.
Apart from Perry, she also said that newcomers like Tayla Vlaeminck, Darcie Brown, and Ash Gardner have played a crucial role in the series, and the team looks forward to their performances in the upcoming ODI series.
After the T20 series decider being abandoned due to rain, the three-match ODI series will be played on 4th, 7th, and 10th April.
I’m a Senior Masters student pursuing Journalism and Mass Communication. An all time Cricket enthusiast. I could never play the game but always loved watching it, and now writing about it!