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Aussies aiming for Indoor clean sweep

All divisions through to respective World Cup grand finals in Dubai-based tournament

Australia will have a tilt at another World Indoor Cricket Federation World Cup clean sweep, with all four teams progressing to the Grand Finals in Dubai.

Australia’s Open Men’s team are chasing their 10th straight title, the Open Women’s team a ninth in succession and both 21 & Under sides both out for a sixth in a row.

Both of Australia’s open sides won their semi-finals to progress straight through to the grand final.

The 21 & Under Women earned direct qualification for the grand final after finishing on top of the table in the regular matches, while the 21 & Under Men stumbled in their semi-final, before bouncing back with a preliminary final win.

Grand Finals fixtures (AEST on Saturday)

21 & Under Women vs New Zealand at 3pm

21 & Under Men vs New Zealand at 5pm

Open Women vs South Africa at 7pm

Open Men vs New Zealand at 9pm

The Open Men’s side advanced to the grand final with a 73-19 win against New Zealand, however New Zealand won their preliminary final to also progress to the final.

“New Zealand on their day are a quality team, and so you can’t write anyone off,” Open Men’s captain Lyle Teske said.

“Finals is a different story, you just have to turn up and anything can happen. We just keep sticking to our game plans and worrying about what we can do and improve every game and hopefully that will be enough.”

The Open Women’s side also beat New Zealand to progress to the semi-final, winning 97-56. New Zealand also progressed to the grand final following a preliminary final win.

“This was the result we were looking for, we concentrated on our own game and got the result we were after,” Open Women’s player Nicole Martin said.

“Pressure is a funny thing, we have been trying hard as a team, and we work together well as a team, it is all a part of the process and just building up for tomorrows Grand Final.”

Australia’s 21 & Under Men’s side were narrowly defeated by New Zealand in their semi-final, 58-63, before bouncing back with a comprehensive 144-9 win in the preliminary final to earn a rematch.

The finals matches will be live-streamed via the WICF Facebook page (facebook.com/ICWC17) and website (worldindoorcricketfederation.com/videos).