Follow UsJust a few weeks away from the Women’s 50-over World Cup, Australia are finding the right gears and sharpening their skills, with a comfortable eight-wicket win against India Women on September 14 (Sunday). One of the brightest spots from Australia’s dominant win was 22-year-old Phoebe Litchfield, who has now become a veteran for the Women in Yellow.
Fresh off her Hundred Women 2025 success, Litchfield smashed 88 in the first ODI in Mullanpur, where she hit 14 boundaries opening the batting, employing all kinds of shots against the spinners. The left-hander eventually succumbed while playing another reverse sweep, but showed that she is ready to embrace her natural game.
"That was the biggest thing that I learned today, that my brain was probably going a bit quicker than it needed to, especially for the format – 50-over cricket's a long game," Litchfield said after the ODI, reported Cricket.com.au.
"Knowing that you've got a lot of time, (you) can pace your innings in that sense.
"But equally, we want to move the game forward and play an attacking brand of cricket, so I've just got to find the balance between that.
"I just tried to take the game on and get the team ahead of the rate … I probably got a bit fixated on the reverse (sweep), but I back that shot,” she added.
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Despite playing just four ODIs in India, Litchfield has already shown her maturity, with 348 runs, averaging a staggering 87.00, which includes four fifty-plus scores. During the first ODI, she built up a crucial partnership with Ellyse Perry, as the duo stitched a 79-run partnership.
"It's so great batting with the skipper, Ellyse and Beth, it makes my job very easy," she said.
"It's nice to have a calm head out there. "Sometimes my head's racing, but they're masters of their craft, they're really good at starting and keeping me going but also batting ridiculously well (themselves).
"It's pretty nice to look down and have them batting at their other end."