The stage is all set for Saturday, March 19th as Team India takes on Australia in the 18th match of the 2022 Women’s cricket world cup. Australia has been unstoppable winning all 4 matches so far with ease. Team India on the other hand has won 2 and lost 2 matches. They’re coming into this match after a horrible batting showcase against England as they were bundled out for 134.
As Australia is all set to go completely aggressive against team India at Auckland on Saturday, Coach Matthew Mott had the following words regarding the match as reported by Annesha Ghosh of ESPNcricinfo.
Mott said: “We will certainly encourage everyone to be aggressive at the start and take early wickets like how we’ve done in the tournament so far.”
Mott also added that they have plans B and C to put into exercise if the team fails to take early wickets.
Mott also spoke about the variety of Bowling options available for captain Meg Lanning to choose from, he said “Every bowler in our squad is very different. So when the captain asks them to bowl, it’s making sure they’re really clear on what their job is at the time. And that’s important for our structure. So, with many bowling options, our captain can rotate the bowlers regularly at giving them shorter spells keeping it flexible.”
Mott is also confident that his team is capable of adapting to the Auckland conditions which at times is windy and gusty. He believes his bowlers will continue to deliver with the ball against an experienced Indian batting line-up.
On the other hand, Smriti Mandhana had no explanation for the team’s horrible performance in the previous match against England.
Speaking about the inconsistent batting performance, Mandhana said the following in the Pre Match press conference held on Friday.
She said, “Yes, we have been inconsistent in our batting in the last 4 matches. We have lost wickets regularly and haven’t been able to stitch good partnerships which is an area we have to work on. Not all 7 batters will perform well in one match. It’s those 2-3 batters who are scoring well must make sure that they have a long partnership and stay as long as possible on the crease taking the team to respectable totals.”
Smriti Mandhana also came in support of Deepti Sharma who has been having a bad world cup so far. She feels Deepti is one good game away to get back in form.
Team India and Australia will be facing each other on, Saturday, March 19th in Auckland. Australia is one win away from the semi-final spot and team India is in a must-win situation in order to stay in contention for the Semi-Final spot. It will certainly be a great contest to look out for tomorrow between India and Australia.
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