Poonam threat not Australia's sole focus for final

Australia are determined to avoid falling into the trap of focusing all their attention on dangerous leg-spinner Poonam Yadav – and leave themselves open for an ambush - as they prepare for Sunday’s T20 World Cup final at the MCG.

Poonam ran riot when the teams clashed in the tournament opener on February 21, taking 4-19 and triggering a stunning collapse as India upset the hosts with a 17-run win.

There is no doubt Australia will have spent plenty of time plotting how to better play the diminutive wrist spinner, who bowls at around 60km/h, this time around.

But captain Meg Lanning said to only focus on Poonam would be to lose sight of the myriad other dangers in India’s attack.

"It’s not just Poonam we need to worry about," Lanning said.

"They’ve got some really good left-armers like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and that’s really important as well.

"They’ve got a really strong line-up right through their bowlers.

"We’ll be covering all bases and making sure we’re as ready as we can be."

Australia’s batters faced plenty of spin in the MCG nets on Saturday and employed the services of a net bowler of similar height to Poonam, who bowled leg-spin at a similar pace.

Lanning said they would heed lessons learnt from the Showground Stadium, when all four batters removed by Poonam were dismissed either advancing down the pitch or coming onto the front foot and failing to read her wrong’un.

A better approach was employed by New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr at Junction Oval, who batted deep in her crease and played off the back foot as she took 18 runs from the six deliveries she faced from Poonam.

Lanning’s team is prepared for a barrage of spin in the final, with Poonam to be joined by left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayawad and off-spinner Deepti Sharma, and potentially a second left-armer in Radha Yadav.

However, they are hopeful the conditions at the MCG will be far less friendly to India’s spinners than the deck at Sydney Showground Stadium was last month.

"I don’t think we need to change too much, to be honest," Lanning said.

"We’ve done our research on what happened in that last game, but the important thing to remember is that we’re playing on a completely different wicket here in Melbourne.

"We’ll need to adjust to what is happening and what is in front of us.

"We’ll be as prepared as we can be and the other really important thing is adjusting to what’s happening at the time and being able to play accordingly.

"We’ll be ready, it’s just about going out there and expressing ourselves and playing freely and understanding what the situation presents."

Another major topic of discussion for the Australian brains trust will have been around the bowling plans for India’s opening pair Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma.

In that opening match in Sydney, Verma went after Australia spearhead Megan Schutt early, smacking 16 runs from her first over, and flew to 29 from 15 deliveries before being dismissed by the now-injured Ellyse Perry.

The 16-year-old has struck 161 runs runs at an average of 40.25 and a remarkable strike rate of 161 through the tournament, rising to the top of the ICC’s T20 batting charts in the process.

Classy left-hander Mandhana has yet to find her best form this tournament, having scored 10 against Australia and a tournament high of 17 against Sri Lanka, but Australia will remain wary of the 23-year-old.

"India, I hate playing," Schutt admitted following Thursday’s semi-final.

"They've got the wood on me. Smriti (Mandhana) and (Shafali) Verma, they've got me covered."

Schutt, who has enjoyed a strong tournament aside from that game against India and is equal-top of the wicket tally, has suggested she may be brought into the attack later than usual.

"There are obviously some plans we're going to revisit as bowlers," Schutt said.

"Clearly I don't think I'm the best match-up to those two in the power play, they find me easy to play.

However, Australia may not have a choice in the powerplay, given the absence of their two fastest bowlers in Tayla Vlaeminck and Ellyse Perry, and Schutt’s record against Mandhana is not as bad as she made out, having dismissed her four times in T20Is.

"She had been the number one T20 bowler in the world for a long time and she's up in the top few definitely," Lanning said on Saturday.

"She has got a steely look in her eye and she's a very competitive person so I'm expecting a big performance from her tomorrow.

"We're not in any way scared of what India present to us."

T20 Women's World Cup Final

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Erin Burns, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham.

India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Veda Krishnamurthy, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Rajeshwari Gaekwad, Richa Ghosh

Key timings - March 8

11:00am - 6:00pm: Fanzone in Yarra Park

3:30pm: Gates open at the MCG

5:00pm: Fans encouraged to ARRIVE EARLY

5:30pm: Katy Perry pre-match performance

6:00pm: Match starts

Post-match: Trophy presentation and Katy Perry concert

Broadcast: Fans in Australia can watch live on Foxtel, Kayo Sports and 9Gem