“Their pace attack is right up there with the best in the world” - Meg Lanning on the challenge of facing South Africa
Australian captain Meg Lanning hailed South Africa’s pace attack as one of the best in the world ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 final at Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday, February 26. She, however, asserted that the Aussies have their plans in place and are confident of combating the challenge.
Australia will be looking to capture its sixth T20 World Cup title in the eighth edition of the competition. Sunday marks their sixth consecutive appearance in the final.
Barring 2016, when they went down to West Indies in the final, the Aussies have emerged victorious in every edition from 2010 to 2020. South Africa, on the other hand, will be featuring in their first-ever World Cup final (men’s or women’s).
At a press conference ahead of the summit clash, Lanning opened up on the threat of South Africa’s pace attack. She commented:
"No dout their pace attack is right up there with the best in the world, they've got some world-class players and they showed the other day how effective they can be, it's their home conditions, they understand them really well and what works and what doesn't."
He added:
"So we've spoken a little about them and how we think they're going to bowl and how we're going to combat that - so we feel confident in our planning.”
The 30-year-old admitted that the defending champions have some scope for improvement in their bowling, which was put under pressure by the Indian duo of Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues in the semi-final. She stated:
“We have to go out there and adjust and execute as best we can and from a bowling point of view, I think we've got a little bit of improvement in us from the semi-final, again, we know the conditions now and what works and our bowling group has been fantastic throughout the whole tournament."
He added:
"We're planned and we're ready to execute as best we can and I feel like if we can do that then I have full belief that we'll be able to get the job done.”
Australia posted 172/4, batting first in the semi-final against India. Harmanpreet (52) and Rodrigues (43) gave India hope in the chase, but the bowling side hung on to register a five-run win.
“It comes down to holding your nerve under pressure” - Meg Lanning
Having dominated the competition, Australia will head into the Women’s T20 World Cup final as favorites. However, Lanning reckons that things are pretty even in terms of how motivated both sides are to win the tournament. The Aussie batter stated:
"I think it'd be pretty even in terms of how, you know, how much each team wants to win. Yeah, there's no doubt about that. You know, we're both the same, we want to win the World Cup, as much as South Africa does."
He added:
“So, I personally think it comes down to holding your nerve under pressure and executing your skills as best you can, when the pressure's on. And that's, that's where it's going to be decided."
Lanning was one of Australia’s star performers in the semi-final against India, smashing an unbeaten 49 off 34 balls.