Australia anticipates a “tough contest” against India in the Women’s World Cup semifinal, despite the hosts being without their in-form opener Pratika Rawal, said former spinner and head coach Shelley Nitschke on Wednesday.
The defending champions, Australia, who remain unbeaten in the tournament, will face India in the second semifinal on Thursday.
“We expect a tough contest — there’s no doubt about that. It’s obviously really good conditions and there’s going to be, by all accounts, a massive crowd,” Nitschke told the media before Australia’s training session.
“I know that India have a really strong batting order. They throw everything at us so we certainly need to make sure that we’re ready for them and they bat with a lot of depth now too.”
“We are certainly under no illusions regarding the depth and skill of their batting order, and our planning focuses on getting that right,” she added.
India had to draft in Shafali Verma, who hasn’t played any ODIs in the past year, after Rawal was ruled out due to injuries. However, Nitschke declined to call it a “relief” not to face the in-form batter.
“Relief? I know that they’ve got a lot of depth in their team. Obviously they’ve had a really good, strong opening partnership with Rawal and Smriti (Mandhana), so that changes things for them,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a relief, because we certainly know that whoever they put out there, they’ve got a lot of depth with their batting. We’re certainly going to have to be ready and be really well prepared for whatever opening combination that they put out,” Nitschke added.
Nitschke noted that Australia captain Alyssa Healy, who missed their last two league matches due to a minor calf strain, will be given all the time she needs to get fit.
“She trained well yesterday (Tuesday). I’ll still give her as much time as she needs to make a call on that (her availability) before the game tomorrow,” Nitschke said.
Underdogs Or Favourites?
Nitschke stated that neither team enters the semifinal clash as “favourites.”
“Semifinals are anyone’s game, I don’t think we go in as the underdogs or the favourites. It’s a pretty level playing field, it promises to be an exciting match and the team that holds their nerve and is able to overcome that pressure of a semifinal should be successful,” she said.
While Tahlia McGrath has stepped in for Healy as captain in the last two matches against England and South Africa, her individual performance — 43 runs in six matches — is a concern, but Nitschke did not see much in it.
“She probably hasn’t had the tournament or the numbers that she would like to turn out. She’s a really calm captain and she’s had to do it a number of times. The players (have) responded really well to her, she manages just to step into that role really well and take the reins,” the head coach added.
The former spinner said bowlers will play a crucial role in the semifinal, set to be played on a batting-friendly track at DY Patil Stadium.
“We’ve had the luxury to play at least a number of T20s here and some of the players for the WPL as well. At least (we) sort of have an understanding of the wicket and the conditions from that perspective,” she said.
“But the bowling has got a huge part to play. It (the previous league contest) was a bat-off. The bowling can possibly be the difference so we’re certainly putting a lot of work into that side of the game,” she said.
With an unbeaten run in the tournament, the defending champions have momentum on their side. Nitschke highlighted the contributions of various players throughout the World Cup.
“I like to think that we’re confident with our game plan. We’ve had a lot of our batters have contributed at some time across the tournament.”
“Hopefully one or two of them can stick their hand up tomorrow night (and) that’s been an upside of our tournament (that) we’ve had a number of players do really well,” Nitschke added.
(With inputs from Agencies)
