India will be up against Australia on Saturday, 19 March, in their fifth game of the ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, having blown hot and cold in their fixtures so far.
Starting their campaign off with a huge victory of Pakistan, things quite haven’t gone as planned for the women’s team as they suffered heavy defeats against the likes of New Zealand and then against an out-of-form England.
Australia on the other hand have looked to be the team to beat this tournament, batting very deep, a strategy that has helped them on several occasions. Australia head-coach Matthew Mott, though, has termed India a ‘dangerous opposition’ whose new ball attack can take away the game on their day.
“It’s a good time to play India. I see them as an incredibly dangerous side. So, we are rolling some confidence at the moment. But as we always say, it’s this game in isolation and everything that we’re talking about the moments about how we can combat India. I think they’ve got one of the best new-ball bowling attacks in the world. And we found that out last summer," said Mott ahead of the game.
For India Pooja Vastrakar and Meghana Singh have been star of the show alongside the spinners. However, the team has not quite clicked well, something that has led them down against New Zealand and England.
However, Mott has stated that they are well aware of the threat that Indian possess down the order and they are particular looking to put up good performances in the late parts of the innings.
“So even if we get off to a good start, we’ve got to respect that they’ve got some dangerous players down the order that can hurt us as well. And it’s a game that we have to be our very, very best to overcome them and then we’ll reset for the next one," added Mott.
India need to win two out of their remaining three games to keep themselves in a strong position for the final four, but they are facing two undefeated teams in the World Cup in their last matches. The match will probably be rain-affected tomorrow with weather predictions in Auckland stating that there are 60 per cent chances of rain during the match hours.