The defending champions Australia will fight for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 trophy against India at home on 8th of March. Notably, these two teams also played the series opener but the result didn’t go into Australia’s favour. Australian skipper Meg Lanning very well remembers their defeat against India’s strong bowling line up in the league match. And, she said that her team is very well prepared to face India.
In the curtain-raiser, India set up a below-par target of 132 runs in front of a strong batting line up of Australia. But the Indian spinners played a crucial role – to dismantle the team.
Well, Poonam Yadav‘s wrong’un were not very well read by Australian batters. Thus, they were bundled out at 115 runs.
Meg Lanning opens up on Australia’s preparation against India:
Ahead of the marquee clash, Lanning said that India’s bowling attack is quite dangerous. She believes not only Poonam Yadav but also Rajeshwari Gayakwad and other left-arm spinners are worrying factors for them.
“It’s not just Poonam we need to worry about it. 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,” Lanning said.
“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.
India’s crucial player Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana have failed to score runs. However, Lanning opines that they can not take them lightly.
“Obviously Smriti Mandhana is a world-class player too and Deepti Sharma has also played well against us. We feel our bowling line-up can adjust to different things,” she said.
Biggest Moment of my career: Meg Lanning
Nevertheless, she is confident about her team’s performance and cleared the motive to bring back the trophy home.
“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,” she said.
Four-time champions Australia are no stranger to title wins. Lanning herself has guided her team to victory in 2018 against England.
Lanning said that it is the biggest moment for her to play in front of Melbourne Cricket Ground‘s crowd.