World Cup defeat 'still burns': Bolton

Nicole Bolton admits the pain of last year’s World Cup semi-final defeat “still burns” as Australia prepare to meet India for the first time since their subcontinent rivals since that fateful day in Derby last July.

Australia were favourites to win their sixth 50-over tournament in the UK, but a record-breaking 171no from Harmanpreet Kaur in the semi-final saw the then-world No.1s’ hopes of winning back-to-back titles abruptly ended.

“It still burns every time I think about playing against India,” Bolton said from Vadodara on Friday, where Australia are preparing for next week’s opening ODI of the Commonwealth Bank Tour of India.

“It was my last experience against them and especially losing in a World Cup, it just hurts a bit more.

“We had a point to prove against England in the Ashes and we did that at certain stages, so coming to India and being able to consolidate our form in both formats and win both formats will be high on our radar.”

Australia have beaten India in 34 of the 43 one-day contests they’ve met in overall, but Bolton and her teammates know that history will count for little against a rapidly improving outfit who only narrowly lost the World Cup decider to England at Lord’s and who are coming off a 2-1 away series win against South Africa.

“Times have changed and in the last few years teams like India are bridging gap in challenging us,” she said.

“They’ve some really high-quality players and in their own backyard they’ll be a really hard team to come up against.

“Getting some momentum early on in the series will be crucial for us, but I feel the group in in a good space with a couple of fresh faces which is always nice, and new staff who are settling in, so we’re looking forward to the first game.”

Australia could also find themselves contending with a large and vocal home crowd: Vadodara, or Baroda as it is alternatively known, hasn’t hosted a men’s or women’s international match since 2010 and the excitement for this series was evident as the Southern Stars squad touched down in the Gujurat city on Friday morning.

They were greeted outside the airport by a pack of television cameras and journalists, while large banners promoting the upcoming three-match series dotted the route from airport to hotel.

“I felt like a bit of rock star really,” Bolton laughed. “Indian people love their cricket and they’ve been really welcoming, in Mumbai and in Baroda so far.

“I really hope they get around our games and hopefully we’re playing in front of some good crowds.”

ICC Women’s Championship points will be on offer in the three-match ODI series, which the top four teams at the end of the Championship earning automatic qualification for the 2021 World Cup.

Australia have four points to their name after beating England 2-1 during the ODI leg of last year’s Ashes, and Bolton said Championship added an extra dimension to the bilateral series.

“I think it’s really important. I know we’re coming up to a T20 World Cup but we don’t lose sight of what’s right in front of us and that’s one-day cricket.

“We want to make sure we’re performing in that format, it’s one we’ve been really consistent across but we have had some unsuccessful experiences of late so we’re pretty keen to turn that around.”

Cricket.com.au will provide news, scores, highlights and behind-the-scenes coverage from on the ground in India, while Fox Sports will broadcast all three ODIs and the T20I tri-series that will follow live.

Commonwealth Bank Tour of India

Australia ODI squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Belinda Vakarewa, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

Australia T20 squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Naomi Stalenberg, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

India ODI squad: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mona Meshram, Sushma Verma, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey, Sukanya Parida, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma

England T20I squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Katie George, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Anya Shrubsole, Bryony Smith, Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson, Danni Wyatt

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by 321 runs. Report

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by seven wickets. Report

ODI series

First ODI Reliance Stadium, Vadodara, March 12

Second ODI Reliance Stadium, Vadodara, March 15

Third ODI Reliance Stadium, Vadodara, March 18

T20I tri-series

First T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 22

Second T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 23

Third T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 25

Fourth T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, March 26

Fifth T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 28

Sixth T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 29

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31