Date and Day: 9 October 2019, Thursday.
Match 3 – Australia Women vs Sri Lanka Women
Time: 5:40 AM IST.
Venue: Allan Border Field, Brisbane.
Australian women’s team continued their dominance over the Sri Lankan team in the second ODI as well. Australia women now go into the third ODI with an unassailable lead of two-nil and stare at the prospect of three-nil sweep in the ODI series as well.
Preview
The last ODI between Australia women and Sri Lanka, women will be played on the 9th of October 2019. In the second ODI of the series, the Australian women put on board a target of 282 runs after electing to bat first. With the majority of the runs being scored by the top three batters. Alyssa Healy scored 69 runs from 62 balls and Captain Meg Lanning scored 45 runs from 62 balls. Both performances were overshadowed by a brilliant maiden ton by a fellow teammate Rachael Haynes who scored 118 runs from 132 balls. Achini Kulasuriya was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka picking up 3 wickets while giving away 50 runs from her quota of 10 overs.
Sri Lanka in reply to Australia’s total of 282 was anything but disappointing. After the early loss of the first wicket, the pair of Anushka Sanjeewani and Harshitha Madavi steadied the innings with a partnership of 70 runs for the second wicket but were too cautious in the effort, thus leading to an increase in the required run rate. Sri Lankan women’s team was eventually bowled out for 172 runs. Jess Jonassen picked up 4 wickets in the game and in doing so also took her ODI wickets tally to 101 wickets.
#RECORD 🚨🚨
Australia’s Jess Jonassen becomes the 2nd fastest woman to take 100 ODI wickets:
64 Fitzpatrick AUS
67 Jonassen AUS
68 Ismail SA
69 David IND; Perry AUS
71 Mohammed WI; Taylor WIStats @_hypocaust #AUSvSL #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/06DbblEEJ7
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 7, 2019
Picking up wickets upfront and collective batting failure has been the issue for the Sri Lankan women team and would love to show some better performance in this last game of the tour.
The Australian team with their win against the Sri Lankans in the second ODI equaled the long-standing 20-year-old record for the most consecutive wins. Going into the final game of the series they look set to break the record and make it 18 consecutive wins from 18 games.
Rachael Haynes, vice-captain of the Australian women team had a few words to say to cricket.com.au on the eve of the game which saw them equalling the record set by their predecessors.
“I’m pretty sure not all of our team was alive back then, but that era and that generation of cricketer were so formidable, They really created the standard of what’s expected in this team. If we get past that milestone, it’ll be a pretty wonderful achievement and not lost on us. They certainly laid a terrific foundation for us and I think about that all the time. They fought extremely hard, and they represented their country at a time where not only did you have to juggle full-time work and those things, but also physically and mentally (get) the best out of your ability. They were certainly trailblazers and laid a fantastic path for us.” Haynes said.
Mel Jones who was a part of the famous Australian women team who previously won 17 consecutive games during 1997-99 was full of praise for the current Australian setup and also drew comparisons between both the teams.
“There are a lot of similarities, You’ve got strong leaders at the top, not just Meg, but Rachael Haynes and the like at the top of the order (and) there are young players coming through that are being mentored and transitioned into the team really nicely. The biggest similarity I’ve noticed is that absolute thirst and desire to keep getting better all the time. There are no corners cut, the one-percenters are probably the biggest ticket items within the team. There’s an enjoyment factor about it as well. As much as you can go out there and be exceptionally professional in the way in which you’re going about it, it’s really nice to see them enjoying every moment.” Jones told cricket.com.au on Tuesday.
She also said that,
“(Breaking the record) will mean we did something right, We’ve played with and mentored a lot of the players within this Australian team and this is exactly what you want to see happen that the next group of players pick up on all the things you did well. I think this Australian team has done that exceptionally well. I hope not only that they break the record, but they keep going on and make it a huge one, and then they’re the ones mentoring the next Australian team in the next generation to break that (again).”
Head to Head
In the previous 5 encounters, Australia women’s team has beaten Sri Lanka women’s team in all the games. Australia has dominated the series and is well placed to secure a whitewash and send the Sri Lanka team back home with no wins to their name.
Played-5, Australia-5, Sri Lanka-0.
Australia Women’s Squad
Meg Lanning (C), Rachael Haynes (VC), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Heather Graham, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham.
Sri Lanka Women’s Squad
Chamari Athapaththu, Anushka Sanjeewani, Harshitha Madavi, Shashikala Siriwardene(C ), Yasoda Mendis, Nilakshi de Silva, Hansima Karunaratne, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Ama Kanchana, Udeshika Parbodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Dilani Manodara, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Inoka Ranaweera, Achini Kulasuriya.
Fantasy players
(Picking a lot of Australian players in the fantasy 11 are suggested considering the recent form of players.)
Rachael Haynes, Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Jess Jonassen, Meg Lanning, Georgia Wareham, Chamari Athapaththu, Shashikala Siriwardene, Achini Kulasuriya.
