Confident Australia face wobbling England in tri-series final
Overview
Australia v EnglandBrabourne Stadium, Mumbai
Tri-series final
Saturday 31 March, 10am local, (4:30am GMT)
Australia and England come into the final of Women’s Twenty20 International tri-series in very different places. The Aussies are in fine form, having won their last two matches, while England have suffered two heavy defeats; it is only by virtue of their opening two victories that they have reached the showpiece in Mumbai.
Both have made it past hosts India to reach the final. Now it comes down to who can hold their nerve in the Brabourne Stadium.
Australia will certainly be confident they hold the upper-hand, having just thrashed Saturday's opponents by eight wickets on Wednesday in the same venue. England were bowled out for 96 before Australia chased the target down within just 11.3 overs.
England's batting, which had started the tournament so well, now looks nervous and fragile. By contrast, Australia have hit their stride at the perfect time and all-rounder Jess Jonassen is confident they can finish the job.
"It would obviously be a nice finish to our tour over here," she said. "We're just hoping to put in another consistent performance. We'll back our plans and hope the result takes care of itself.
"It's been a while since we had a T20 series win, so if we can get over the line we'd be really pleased. I think the girls are really confident at the moment. We've got a lot of players in form and everyone is backing their skills. That's an exciting position for us to be in and hopefully we can do that for one more game."
Australia's most recent win saw a change of tactic, with Ellysse Perry come up to the top of the order. The all-rounder struck nine fours in an innings of 47* from 32 balls to take her side home in quick time. Jonassen says this flexibility is a strength of the side.
"We saw last game how Ellysse Perry came up the batting order and she did a fantastic job for us," the 25-year-old said.
"The girls are able to adapt - our whole batting unit can do that - and that's an exciting place to be in. Not long ago we would have potentially crumbled in that kind of position."
For England it's a very different situation. Heather Knight's side will be hoping they can put the last two defeats behind them and rediscover the form that saw them set the tournament alight in the early stages.
England successfully chased 199 and 150 to open the tournament. The first chase represents the highest ever in a women's Twenty20 international and will surely give them confidence, despite recent results.
If England are to change their fortunes, they could do with another impressive innings from opener Danni Wyatt, who smashed 124 from 64 balls against India to become the second woman to hit two T20I centuries.
After being knocked over for 96 by Australia - their joint-second-lowest total - their were similar problems against India on Thursday. Wyatt made 31, but no-one else got past 15 as they were bowled out for 107.
Their batting will have to turn in a much-improved performance on Saturday morning if they are to upset the odds.
Squads
England: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont (wk), Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Katie George, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Daniellie Hazell, Amy Jones(wk), Anya Shrubsole, Natalie Sciver, Fran Wilson, Danni Wyatt
Australia: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Naomi Stalenberg, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington