Meg Lanning heaps praise on SCG groundstaff as Australia fend off rain to reach final

After England’s semi-final against India was washed out by persistent rain in Sydney, it looked as though Lanning’s side might follow suit

Meg Lanning praised the groundstaff at the SCG after Australia inched their way into a potentially record-breaking T20 World Cup final on Sunday.

Her side will face India at the MCG in front of a crowd that could eclipse the current world record for the greatest ever live audience for a women’s sporting event – a marker currently held by the 90,185 who headed to California's Rose Bowl to close the football World Cup of 1999.

Yet, after England’s semi-final against India was washed out by persistent rain in Sydney, it looked as though Lanning’s side might follow suit.

“They did an amazing job,” she said of the team that worked through a delayed toss for the second game to ensure the ground was fit enough for play.

“It’s been raining a hell of a lot today in Sydney and the wicket was great. They prepared it earlier. We’re just very thankful we were able to play.”

They worked similarly hard only a month ago in order to prepare the outfield for the Big Bash final after heavy rain had seemingly prevented Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars taking to the ground. They ultimately managed a 12-over match.

“That was very stressful,” Lanning added. “The waiting game during the day and even when we got to the ground. The groundstaff here did an amazing job to get us on the field and we were lucky enough to get a break in the weather.”

When the sides did take to the field, South Africa restricted Australia to 134 for 5 from their 20 overs, before falling just six runs short in a chasse reduced to 98 in 13 overs by further showers.

^{The first semi-final had been washed out by persistent rain}

“It was hard work,” said the Australian captain, who made an unbeaten 49 and held her side’s innings together.

“South Africa bowled extremely well and made it really difficult. It was a skiddy wicket, so if you bowled straight it was difficult to get away. We unfortunately lost a few wickets through the middle there, so we had to hang in a little bit. It was nice to be able to contribute.

“We felt we had a good total without being great. We knew we had to bowl realty well to get the result that we wanted. We had to adjust and we had a blueprint for what to bowl from what we saw from them. For the most part, we were able to execute that.

“They needed 19 off the last over and we knew we had to nail it. But that’s T20 cricket for you. I was extremely nervous.”

India, who Australia will face in Sunday’s final, beat them in the first game of the tournament at the Sydney Showground Stadium and also in the tri-series that preceded the competition; Harmanpreet Kaur’s team chased 177 successfully on that occasion.

“They’re a class side and they’ve been playing excellent cricket throughout the tournament,” Lanning admitted.

“We’re going to have to play well. We’ve been improving with each game, but we’re going to have to improve on Sunday. We wanted to give ourselves the opportunity to play in that final. It’s been a pretty hard road – it certainly hasn’t been smooth. But we’ve given ourselves chance, so we just have to enjoy it now.

“The first few games of this World Cup flew by and went so quick. We just needed to slow it down a little bit and get back to playing the cricket that we do.

“We were probably a little bit timid in the first couple of games, but we’ve been really good since then. The two opening batters (Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy) have really set the tone for us.

“It was really about a mindset thing. We knew we had the performances in us, but we weren’t playing to our potential. We just needed to shift that a little bit and I thought in the back end of that Sri Lanka game – to grind through – certainly set up our World Cup.”