Follow UsAustralia have done alright without their talismanic skipper Alyssa Healy, after she missed the previous two group stage clashes against England and South Africa. However, the second semi-final against India on October 30 (Thursday) would be a different beast altogether, where they would be hoping for their leader to return.
Healy has been pushing herself for a return, training in Navi Mumbai two days before the clash, but skipped optional training on Wednesday (Oct 29) to continue her recovery from the injury. Will she be fit to take the field on Thursday?
“She trained well yesterday (Tuesday). I’ll still give her as much time as she needs to make a call on that (her availability) before the game tomorrow,” Australia’s head coach Shelly Nitschke said before the clash.
“We expect a tough contest — there’s no doubt about that. It’s obviously really good conditions and there’s going to be, by all accounts, a massive crowd,” Nitschke added.
While India are missing their incumbent opener Pratika Rawal, Nitschke insisted that Australia know that the Women in Blue have the batting depth to replace her effortlessly.
“I know that India have a really strong batting order. They throw everything at us so we certainly need to make sure that we’re ready for them and they bat with a lot of depth now too. We are certainly under no illusions as to the depth and the skill of that batting order and certainly the planning that goes into that is (about) making sure that we’re getting that right as well,” she said.
Australia have played a lot of fixtures at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, where conditions are usually super batter-friendly. Nitschke revealed that they are expecting the wickets to play similarly during the second semi-final, but placed a lot of trust in her bowlers to come up clutch.
“We’ve had the luxury to play at least a number of T20s here and some of the players for the WPL as well. At least (we) sort of have an understanding of the wicket and the conditions from that perspective,” she said.
“But the bowling has got a huge part to play. It (the previous league contest) was a bat-off. The bowling can possibly be the difference so we’re certainly putting a lot of work into that side of the game,” she added.
Australia would be eyeing a successive final appearance, after lifting the trophy in 2022, when they bested England in the final. Whichever side makes it, they will face first-timers South Africa in the final.