Adaptable Aussies ready for T20I final

No new tricks, but a preparedness to think outside the box will be crucial for Australia’s bowlers as the Southern Stars vie to win a 20-over series for the first time since mid-2015 on Saturday.

Australia will meet England in the T20I tri-series final at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium and assistant coach Ashley Noffke’s message for his bowlers is simple: relax and back your skills.

The Australians head into the final in red-hot form having emphatically beaten India and England by 36-runs and eight-wickets this week, but won’t be taking their Ashes rivals lightly.

“As a bowling group we’ll be focusing on execution and trying to do the simple things right over and over again,” Noffke, who has joined the Australian squad for the Commonwealth Bank Tour of India, said on Thursday.

“When you come to the final, it’s about relaxing and trusting your skill, it’s not about reinventing the wheel or having tricks up your sleeve.

“In T20s you have to be ahead of the batter, and stay ahead of the batter to try and push them into a corner where they do something silly.”

Heading into the subcontinent tour, Australian players and coaches had spoken of the need for the bowlers to better adapt when under pressure from opposition batters – the frequently referenced example being their World Cup semi-final defeat in Derby last July when India star Harmanpreet Kaur single-handedly ended their title hopes with an unbeaten 171-run blitzkrieg.

And Australia couldn’t have asked for more ideal conditions on which to test their adaptability than those at Brabourne Stadium, where flat wickets and a lightning outfield have produced three of the top 10 highest totals in women’s T20I history in the past week.

“The feedback from the players is they feel more comfortable about being able to hold fire, especially on outfields like here Mumbai where you know you’re going to go for a few boundaries from time to time,” Noffke, who wasn’t part of the World Cup or Ashes tours, noted.

“You’ve got to be able to hold your nerve, slow things down and talk to the captain to make sure the plans are right.

“It’s more about quickly re-thinking, making sure you feel comfortable with what the captain is asking you to do.”

Other than a less-than-ideal defeat to England last Friday, where Heather Knight’s team chased a below-par 150 with three overs to spare, the Australians have held their rivals to totals of 5-152, 5-150 and 96.

“You’ve definitely got to think outside the box when you get into conditions and really suit the batters,” Noffke explained.

“It’s being able to put a lot of pressure on the bowling group, you’ve got to think a bit differently about how going to take wickets.

“I’ve been firm in my messaging that we’re trying to take wickets all the time, not just trying to control the run rate.

“In these types of conditions wickets are the only thing that are going to slow teams down.

“It’s been great to chat to the girls about how they’re taking wickets, how they think they can take wickets and the possibilities of maybe where they thought they couldn’t take wickets.

“That’s been the most enjoyable part (of the tour), I reckon.”

Noffke said he’d been particularly impressed with the way the bowling group had bounced back in their second clash against England, bowling their rivals out for 96.

“Our bowling group had a really good discussion, that was clear and concise without over-thinking it, just really good tactically coming into that second game,” he said.

“England played with freedom – at times, they probably took that freedom a little bit too far.

“Our bowlers hardly bowled a loose ball in the first seven or eight overs and they really backed England into a corner.

“Every time they tried to take us on, they made a mistake.”

Australia will have one final training session on Friday before Saturday’s final. The match begins at 10am local (3.30pm AEDT) and will be broadcast live in Australia on Fox Sports, while cricket.com.au will bring you live scores, news and highlights from on the ground in Mumbai. 

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 defeated India by 36 runs. Scorecard

Fifth T20I Australia defeated England by eight wickets. Scorecard

Sixth T20I India defeated England by eight wickets. Scorecard

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31. Live Coverage