Australia head into Sunday's World Cup final with an 8-0 unbeaten record and the added boost of Ellyse Perry's likely return to the XI, but Lanning is not taking anything for granted
Australia and England are chalk and cheese.
Meg Lanning's Australia have been utterly dominant in ODI cricket for the past four-and-a-half years, winning 39 of a possible 41 matches since their semi-final exit in 2017 and cruising through the 2022 tournament with eight straight victories.
Heather Knight's England have endured a long winter of travel, bubbles and Ashes defeats before finally rediscovering their mojo against India on March 16 following three successive group stage defeats. They are now five matches unbeaten.
When the two sides met in the group stage, Australia won by 12 runs, dispatching England's bowlers for 310 runs before orchestrating a middle-order collapse which left Nat Sciver with too much to do.
However, according to Lanning, when the two sides meet in Christchurch on March 4 for the 2022 Women's World Cup final, none of this matters.
Ellyse Perry is set to be available after missing two matches [Kelly Defina/Getty Images]
"We're both chasing the same thing and that's the thing about World Cup finals – it's all on the line on the day," she said. "It's really irrelevant what's happened previously in the tournament. Both teams start on zero runs and it's about putting out a really good team performance.
"It's about playing to your best and executing your skills under pressure. That's the challenge. We've certainly been building and playing some good cricket along the way, but we have to put on a really good performance tomorrow to win.
"We certainly know it’s not just going to happen; we have to go out there and play well and it's going to be tough."
Such is their dominance in the 50-over format that Australia are the overwhelming favourites heading into tomorrow's match despite England being the current World Cup holders, but that doesn't mean Lanning's side are getting complacent.
"There's certainly some nerves, it'd be crazy if you weren't nervous heading into a World Cup final," she said, assessing the mood in the squad. "We've got a really good plan and also the skill sets within the team to deliver it, but it comes down to what happens tomorrow.
"England always provide a great contest. They've got some world-class players who can take the game away from you really quickly. It's going to be massive challenge for us and certainly not easy but we feel confident."
This is a familiar position for Australia with nine members of their 2020 T20 World Cup-winning squad in New Zealand [Kelly Defina/Getty Images]
Fortunately, it's a very familiar situation for most of the squad, with seven members of the XI which played in the T20 World Cup final in 2020 expected to feature on Sunday and Ellyse Perry, Nicola Carey and Annabel Sutherland also part of that trophy winning squad.
And after missing on the final two years ago, Perry is in line to play on this occasion after recovering from a back issue which kept her out of Australia's last two matches.
The allrounder is expected to play as a specialist batter due to her injury and Sutherland is the most likely candidate to miss out, with Lanning revealing her intention to field six bowlers – likely Megan Schutt, Alana King, Jess Jonassen, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner and Darcie Brown - rather than seven.
"There's been times when someone hasn't bowled, so six is certainly enough. Seven is a bit of a luxury," Lanning said.
"We've shown over a long period of time that six bowlers is a good amount of players for us. It gives us some flexibility. At the end of the day, you've got to trust you bowlers and back them to deliver and we've got six very good bowlers who we'll take into this game and full confidence that they'll be able to do the job."