Aussie U19s to take momentum into biggest Cup test yet

Australia Under-19s skipper Rhys McKenna and her team are gearing up for their biggest test of the T20 World Cup to date: a showdown with Shafali Verma’s India in the first of their two Super Six matches.

The Aussies go into the second stage of the inaugural women’s Under-19s event in South Africa sitting third on the Group 1 table, ideally needing to defeat a strong India side and the UAE to advance to the semi-finals.

McKenna, who was born in Benoni where Australia played their group matches, said her side would take momentum and confidence into the Super Six phase, having claimed emphatic back-to-back wins over Sri Lanka and the USA after their surprise first-up defeat to Bangladesh.

"I think it's pretty noticeable that we've been playing better cricket since our first game, or even since arriving here," McKenna said on Friday.

"I think we're going to run this high that we're on and see what can happen in the next game."

Australia suffered an 18-run defeat to India in their warm-up clash earlier this month and will be tested by a line-up that advanced through the group stage undefeated and which includes experienced senior side players Verma and Richa Ghosh.

McKenna said her side had taken some important lessons from that practice match, and were prepared for their showdown in Potchefstroom, which begins at 1.45pm on Saturday local time (10.45pm AEDT).

"We've obviously reflected on our cricket when we played them and also the way they played," she said.

"We've also sat down as a team and watched some videos and done some analysis.

"We're expecting a lot of spin bowling from them, but also some pretty powerful hitting in the top order with a bat."

McKenna, who plays for Victoria and Melbourne Stars, has had the chance to play under one of the best skippers in the game in national captain Meg Lanning, as well as emerging leaders including Nicole Faltum and Sophie Molineux.

She said she had tried to incorporate one shared aspect of their leadership styles in particular into her approach in South Africa.

"I think one thing I've looked at in all the leaders that I've been under is the way they are able to remain calm in the field and even portray that to the players as well," she said.

"It's pretty important, because looking up to someone who's calm is going to make the game a lot smoother and make your team feel a lot less pressure.

"It's a massive privilege to be able to captain your underage national team ... I've had a lot of help from the support staff and the coaching team as well.

"It's been a pretty cool experience."

Australia’s Under-19 World Cup matches can be streamed live and free via ICC.tv, while the semi-finals and final will be televised on Foxtel and Kayo.

ICC Women's Under-19 T20 World Cup 2023

Australia squad: Rhys McKenna (c),Charis Bekker, Paris Bowdler, Maggie Clark, Sianna Ginger, Lucy Hamilton, Paris Hall, Ella Hayward, Milly Illingworth, Eleanor Larosa, Claire Moore, Kate Pelle, Ananaya Sharma, Amy Smith, Ella Wilson. 

Group A: Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and USA

Group B: England, Pakistan, Rwanda and Zimbabwe

Group C: Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand and West Indies

Group D: India, Scotland, South Africa and the UAE

Australia’s schedule  

View the full schedule here

January 14: Bangladesh beat Australia by seven wickets

January 16: Australia beat USA by nine wickets

January 18: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 108 runs

Super Sixes

January 21: v India, North-West University Oval, Potchefstroom, 1.45pm local (9.45pm AEDT) 

January 23: v UAE, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 1.45pm local (9.45pm AEDT) 

* If Australia qualify:

Final: January 29, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 1.45pm local (10.45pm AEDT)