Indore: Seven-time champions Australia will be eager to launch their title defence with a statement effort against a strong and experienced New Zealand in the ICC Women’s World Cup here on Wednesday.
While the reigning T20 world champions Kiwis are capable of offering them a tough fight, Australia have a far bigger internal challenge to tide over.
They have an abundance of talent and options in their ranks, and balancing them with the team requirements is a headache, though a pleasant one.
Left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux and leg-spinner Georgia Wareham have recovered from their respective injuries, and now the Aussies will have to think how to accommodate these proven performers in the eleven.
The Australian think-tank will ponder whether to go with two leg-spinners in Wareham and Alana King or add Molineux to give more variety to their attack.
Their pace department too is enviously rich with talent with the likes of Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath and Darcie Brown lining up for a place in the eleven.
They have a plethora of match-winners in batting too — Beth Mooney, Phoebe Litchfield and Ashleigh Gardner but skipper Alyssa Healy will have to lead from the front.
The addition of Georgia Voll, who recently made an 87-ball 101 against India at Brisbane, has further bolstered their batting.
Besides, the Aussies displayed their readiness for the marquee event, beating hosts India 2-1 in a bilateral ODI series recently.
So, the White Ferns will have to come up with a special effort to beat this Australian side, and they are perfectly capable of it.
The T20 title win in the UAE last year might also have boosted their belief of doing well in the sub-continental conditions.
But they have not played any ODIs since facing Sri Lanka at home in March, and since 2024 they also have lost 50-over series against India, England and Australia.
However, the Aussies will be too naive to take them lightly and they will be aware that the Kiwis had overturned a 10-match losing streak to win last year’s T20 world title.
The Antipodeans have a good number of experienced players in skipper Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates, Lea Tahuhu, Amelia Kerr and Maddy Green, who made a hundred against England in a warm-up match.
They have added the fearlessness of youth through Georgia Plimmer, Polly Inglis, Eden Carson and Izzy Gaze.
New Zealand also had extensive preparatory camps at the CSK Academy in Chennai, Abu Dhabi, besides playing some warm-up matches in Bengaluru.
New Zealand will now hope that they have done enough to overcome the fancied Australia in a match that has all the trappings of an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
Teams (from):
Australia: Alyssa Healy (capt, wk), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham.
New Zealand: Sophie Devine (capt), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Flora Devonshire, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Jess Kerr, Amelia Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Georgia Plimmer, Lea Tahuhu.
Match starts at 3 pm.
