We’ve grown since Game 1

India won opener, but Aussies are back

RESTRICTING teenage batting sensation Shafali Verma and adapting to the slow spin of Poonam Yadav will be among the keys for Australia when it takes on India in the T20 World Cup final tomorrow at the MCG.

After losing to India by 17 runs in the tournament’s opening game on February 21 at Sydney Showgrounds, the Australians have faced criticism that they were too bamboozled by the spin of Poonam who took 4-19 from four overs and was player of the match.

Opener Alyssa Healy did best with the bat against India a fortnight ago, with her 51 (35 balls), but was one of Poonam’s victims. She said it wasn’t fair criticism that the green and gold have trouble playing spin.

“We actually don’t play a whole heap against the subcontinent teams who bowl spin very different to the Englands and New Zealands,” she said.

“The way we adapt to it, especially against India wasn’t as good as it could have been, we’d take that comment. We have a lot of players both right and left hand and play 360, in fairness, we play spin pretty well, it’s probably just adapting to the way that they’re bowling to us on the day.”

Captain Meg Lanning said the team would talk extensively about how to face India’s spin. “We’ll be on a slightly different wicket, but there are a lot of learnings from that first game that we feel like we can implement,” she said.

Opener Beth Mooney was one of the Aussies who failed to fire with the bat in Game 1. She was out for six, but since then has hit 181 runs from five innings, to become the Aussies’ top run-scorer this World Cup.

“We’ve come a long way since that game,” Mooney said.

“It’s only been 14 days since we played them, but it feels like a really long time … [we’ll] really knuckle down our plans for that Indian line-up and hopefully put them under the pump.”

Mooney said the Aussies would take momentum from their stirring semi-final win over South Africa to the MCG.

“That was probably the most clinical performance the Australian team’s had for a while, everyone contributed with bat, with ball, in the field,” she said. “We didn’t rely on one person, literally every person on that field contributed to the win.”

Pace bowler Delissa Kimmince — who took 1/24 against India in Game 1 — said beating India would come down to the “clutch moments”.

“We know that they are trying to bowl slow and wide to us, so we just need to have a plan for that and go out there and execute it,” she said.

Tomorrow’s match starts at 6pm.