Aussies set to pounce as WT20 looms

Australia have already secured a place in Saturday's T20I tri-series final, but that doesn't mean they will make any significant changes for Wednesday's match against England.

Monday's 36-run victory over India left the hosts winless after three matches and unable to advance to the final, ensuring Ashes rivals Australia and England will again play off for a trophy.

But with a World T20 looming in the Caribbean in November and precious little international cricket on the calendar between now and then for Australia, captain Meg Lanning says the priority will be on refining their game plans rather than on experimentation.

"We have played a different team each game and we've got 14 players who can come in and play a role," Lanning said.

"But we'll look at the conditions next game and the opposition and pick what we think is the best team to win that game.

"I don't think we can go in and change too much and expect the same result.

"We need to keep our momentum going, we don't have a lot of T20 games between now and the World Cup, so we're keen to nail down our side and our best team.

"So we'll be doing nothing different against England."

The Southern Stars have fielded a slightly different XI in each of their three matches to date, with NSW batter Naomi Stalenberg the only member of the 14-strong squad yet to play a match.

Lanning didn't play in Australia's match against England last Friday, sitting out to manage her still-recovering shoulder.

She's likely to line-up against Heather Knight's team on Wednesday, with the other main consideration likely to be whether Australia retain leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington – who played her first match against India on Monday and finished with 0-12 from two overs – or bring back left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux, who played the first two matches of the series.

In that first game against England, Australia struggled to put together a significant partnership as they were restricted to 149 from their 20 overs, a target that was chased down with three overs to spare.

But after a much-improved batting performance against India, where a 114-run third-wicket stand between Elyse Villani and Beth Mooney helped Australia to 5-186, equalling their second-largest T20I total ever, Lanning believes her team is heading in the right direction.

"We had that big partnership out there which we lacked against England," she said. "We'd always love 20 or 30 runs more especially on this wicket, but generally we went after their bowlers and played to our strengths.

"At half-time we didn't think we were safe, but we thought it we bowled well we could defend that target, so it was a nice overall performance."

Australia have one day to recover before taking on England, a brief respite for the team after toiling in hot and humid conditions that had the mercury tipping 40 degrees on Monday.

At the end of the first innings, Elyse Villani – who scored 61 – said she believed they were the toughest conditions she'd ever batted in. Between balls, both Villani and Mooney sunk down to their haunches, desperate for any relief from the unrelenting heat.

"I definitely wasn't as tired as Mooney and Junior (Villani)," Lanning, who came in at No.5 to score 11no from 10 deliveries, said.

"Moons was quite red, which is her thing. But that is the nature of the game and I think they dealt with it really well, they were able to find the boundary.

"We work really hard on our fitness getting ready for these tours so we expect to deal with these conditions and I think we've done that well throughout the series."

Commonwealth Bank Tour of India

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 T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Rumeli Dhar, Mona Meshram.

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 Australia won by eight wickets. Scorecard

Second ODI Australia won by 60 runs. Scorecard

Third ODI Australia won by 97 runs. Scorecard

T20I tri-series

First T20I Australia defeated India by six wickets. Scorecard

Second T20I England defeated Australia by eight wickets. Scorecard

Third T20I England defeated India by seven wickets. Scorecard

Fourth T20I Australia defeated India by 36 runs. Scorecard

Fifth T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 28. Live Coverage

Sixth T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 29. Live Coverage

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31. Live Coverage