Sky the limit in Mumbai run fest

Records appear set to continue tumbling in the ongoing T20I tri-series in Mumbai, with Australia captain Meg Lanning and her England counterpart Heather Knight admitting they don’t know exactly what total might be enough at Brabourne Stadium.

In the three matches to date, the team batting second has completed a comfortable run chase; first, Australia chased down India’s 152 with ease, before England ran down 149 with three overs to spare against the Southern Stars one day later.

Then, on Sunday, India and England set a new high watermark for most runs scored in a single women’s T20I, the hosts scoring 4-198 before England reached 3-199 with eight balls remaining.

In the history of the women's game, there’s only been one total larger than Sunday’s two efforts – South Africa’s 1-205 against the Netherlands in 2010.

Australia will meet India again on Monday, with the captain who wins the toss certain to elect to chase based on the first three results.

Should the Southern Stars be asked to set a total for a second consecutive game, Lanning believes her team – whose highest T20I total is the 191 they posted against Ireland in 2014 – will have to go where they’ve never gone before.

“That par is probably around the 200-mark on this ground and we saw that today when India got to that point and it was chased down easily,” Lanning said on Sunday.

“It’s great for the women’s game and it shows how far we’ve far come in a short space of time, but in this series especially we’ve got to be prepared to push the boat out a little further than we have in the past.

“It’s exciting and our group is really looking forward to taking on India tomorrow who are in really good form.”

Knight echoed Lanning’s sentiments after her team’s comfortable victory, which was led by a stunning century from opener Danielle Wyatt.

“I don’t know,” Knight said when asked how high would be enough. “You think 198, you’re going to have to bat really well to chase that, but it’s a very good wicket and very hard to defend.

“As a bowler it was very tricky to bowl on. Whatever we were set, we were going to try and chase it.”

On Sunday, India’s platform was laid by in-form opener Smriti Mandhana, who powered a 40-ball 76 to follow the 67 she scored against Australia last week.

Finding a way to remove her early looms as the key for Australia, who will seal a spot in next Saturday’s final if they defeat India on Monday.

“She’s in form and she’s a player who is very difficult to stop when she gets going,” Lanning said.

“It’s really important how you bowl to her early, make her take a few more risks than she’s been forced to do in the first few games.

“We’ve spoken about that a lot as a group and we feel like we’ve come up with come quite good plans to bowl against her and hopefully minimize the damage.

“There is an element of minimizing the damage on this ground and on this wicket, so if we can execute our plans as well as we can, that gives us the best chance.”

Lanning missed Australia’s second T20I against England last Friday, with the skipper rested as Australian staff sought to manage her return from shoulder surgery.

The Australian captain, who turned 26 on Sunday, is hopeful of making her return on Monday, but stopped shy of making guarantees, saying a decision would be made after Sunday’s training.

“It’s going well, I’m hopeful of playing tomorrow but I’ve just got to get through training today and we’ll decide after that.

“But I’m looking to get out there tomorrow.”

Commonwealth Bank Tour of India

Australia T20 squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Naomi Stalenberg, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Rumeli Dhar, Mona Meshram.

England T20I squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Katie George, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Anya Shrubsole, Bryony Smith, Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson, Danni Wyatt

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by 321 runs. Report

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by seven wickets. Report

ODI series

First ODI Australia won by eight wickets. Scorecard

Second ODI Australia won by 60 runs. Scorecard

Third ODI Australia won by 97 runs. Scorecard

T20I tri-series

First T20I Australia defeated India by six wickets. Scorecard

Second T20I England defeated Australia by eight wickets. Scorecard

Third T20I England defeated India by seven wickets. Scorecard

Fourth T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, March 26. Live Coverage

Fifth T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 28. Live Coverage

Sixth T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 29. Live Coverage

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31. Live Coverage