Quantcast

Shot at redemption driving Lanning's juggernaut

Australia are rewriting the ODI record books but it is the one title they do not own that is driving their winning run

Australia hold a world record for most consecutive ODI wins, are the No.1 ranked one-day team by a whopping margin of 45 points and have not lost a bilateral series in the 50-over format since mid-2013.

But there is one thing they cannot call themselves: ODI world champions.

That title belongs to England, triumphant on home soil in the 2017 ODI World Cup, after Australia’s shock loss at the hands of India in the semi-final.

That is the fire burning in the belly of Meg Lanning’s group, as they plot their path towards a chance at redemption at the 2022 event in New Zealand.

"It’s a big motivator for us," vice-captain Rachael Haynes told reporters on Wednesday after Australia wrapped up a series victory against New Zealand with one game to play.

"There’s no doubt and we’ve never shied away from speaking about our ambition to win that one-day World Cup.

"There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge, it’s still 12 months away, but to miss out on playing in the final in England a few years ago was really a line-in-the-sand moment for our group in how we wanted to play our cricket and I think we’ve done a good job in bringing that to life."

Haynes, Jonassen fire as Australia retain Rose Bowl

That sentiment was echoed by coach Matthew Mott on the eve of the second ODI, when asked how his team continued to motivate themselves after notching a record-breaking 22nd win.

"We still haven’t ticked off that one-day World Cup," Mott told SEN radio.

"There’s a lot of players who have been in this squad who have experienced that heartbreak, how you put your all into something and it doesn’t quite work and that’s a huge driver for this group."

That 2017 semi-final defeat – the one that got away – serves as a constant reminder that nothing can be taken for granted when it comes to tournament play.

Haynes knows how important it will be for Australia to time their run and hit top form at the right times next summer, during a demanding six-month period that will also see them host India and contest an Ashes before travelling to New Zealand for the ICC tournament.

"We’re building towards that particular event and there’s players who want to put their case forward and make sure they continue to perform so they can be part of that World Cup," Haynes said.

"It’s actually going to be a really big summer for us and we need to make sure we’re building and playing good cricket at the right time.

"I’ll be interested to see how the team tackles that and how the support staff tackle that as well."

The transformation Australia underwent following that semi-final loss has been well documented, as have their results since – not just in 50-over cricket, but in the shortest format as well, winning back-to-back T20 World Cups in 2018 and 2020.

Given they had lost just seven out of 35 one-day matches in the four years between the 2013 and 2017 ODI World Cups, it was not about making drastic changes; if anything, their current 23-match winning streak suggests they merely stamped out their propensity for the odd misstep.

"The 2017 World Cup is the one we speak about being a crucible moment for this team," Mott said.

"We went in as red-hot favourites in many people’s eyes and we left in the semi-final with more questions than answers.

"As a group we stripped it back to everything, how we prepare, how we review … that’s really helped set the trend and that’s where the consistency has come from.

"Everything we’ve done since then is about making sure we leave no stone unturned."

CommBank tour of New Zealand 2021

Australia ODI & T20I Squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Molly Strano, Georgia Wareham, Belinda Vakarewa, Tayla Vlaeminck

New Zealand ODI squad: Amy Satterthwaite (capt), Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Amelia Kerr, Jess Kerr, Frances Mackay, Rosemary Mair, Katey Martin (wk), Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu

1st T20: Australia won by six wickets

2nd T20: New Zealand won by four wickets

3rd T20: Play abandoned due to rain

1st ODI: Australia won by six wickets

2nd ODI: Australia won by 71 runs

3rd ODI: April 10, Bay Oval, Tauranga, 12noon AEDT

All matches will be shown live in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo