Gap has closed between India and Aussies: Mandhana

India star Smriti Mandhana has declared her team is undaunted by their do-or-die T20 World Cup match against Australia, saying they will draw on their recent success against the world's top-ranked team.

India almost certainly need to beat Australia to secure a spot in the tournament semi-finals – unless South Africa are upset by Bangladesh earlier in the day – but standing in their way are Sophie Molineux's Australians, who are four from four and flying.

Australia are certainly hoping to use the added pressure on India to their advantage, with Molineux saying on Friday, "We're in a bit of a different situation to India – we still need to win and make sure we finish where we want to place, but we know that there's a bit of pressure on them, and I think hopefully we can double down on that and put pressure on them quite early in the game."

India upset their rivals 2-1 in a T20I series on home soil in February, however, and knocked them out of last year's ODI World Cup with a record-breaking victory in the semi-final.

Speaking to media in London on Saturday, Mandhana said India were undaunted by the high stakes.

"We've all spoken a lot about how we really want to be playing the aggressive brand of cricket, and that's something which we'll all look to do tomorrow," Mandhana said. 

"We did well in the T20 format in Australia, we'll take a lot of confidence from that, and I feel that with the Women's Premier League, I feel the girls are also very well prepped in terms of taking the high-pressure games a little better than what we could before.

"Hopefully we can take all of those experiences and memories and play the best we can tomorrow."

Mandhana has often been the key to success against Australia for India, and averages 32.07 against the world's top-ranked team in T20Is.

She has played in eight of India's nine T20 wins over Australia (from 38 meetings), and has been dismissed for under 29 just once in those victories.

The 29-year-old scored 129 runs at 64.50 in that three-game series in Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide earlier this year, and working out how to remove the India vice-captain early will be one of the major questions facing Australia.

"Australia is a good team," she said.

"We've always had good contests against them, and even as a batter, I've always looked forward to play them because of course they are one of the best in the world.

"Having said that, we've had good success against them.

"I feel the gap (between Australia and India) has definitely narrowed with few of our players playing Big Bash, them playing the WPL.

"The experience has been shared, and I feel the kind of cricket the Indian team has played in the last 4-5 years … that gap has narrowed down, and I just feel now at this moment, especially in T20 cricket, it's just about whichever team is having a good day is going to win the match." 

Mandhana also revealed she had an ace up her sleeve for Sunday's game, having tapped into the expertise of an Australian legend for advice ahead of the must-win encounter.

She encountered fellow left-hander Matthew Hayden, who is working at the tournament as a commentator, on the field post-game earlier in the week and leapt at the chance to chat.

"I have looked up to (Kumar) Sangakkara and Matthew Hayden quite a lot – I remember even in my bad days I would go out and watch their videos.

"When I saw him doing the comms, I generally don't really get excited, but I did get excited.

"We had a good discussion … I really wanted to know a few things about the grip and the few things.

"I don't want to really go into what we spoke (about) but it was a good chat ... he was really kind and sweet, and I think he shared a lot of things. I hope I can apply them today in the practice."

ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026

Australia squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham. Travelling reserve: Tahlia Wilson

Australia's Group 1 fixtures

June 13: beat South Africa by 65 runs

June 17: beat Bangladesh by nine wickets

June 20: beat Netherlands by 98 runs

June 24: beat Pakistan by 113 runs

June 28: v India, Lord's, London, 11:30pm AEST

Semi-final 1: The Oval, London, June 30, 11:30pm AEST

Semi-final 2: The Oval, London, July 2 (3:30am July 3 AEST)

Final: Lord's, London, July 5, 11:30pm AEST

Click here for the full tournament schedule

All matches will be broadcast on Amazon's Prime Video