Adaptability the key for favourites Australia at Women’s World Cup

After definitive series wins over India and England this summer – and a total of 29 wins from their last 30 ODIs – Australia head into the Women’s World Cup as overwhelming favourites. It’s a familiar position for this team, who have dominated world cricket for many years. But this particular tournament brings more pressure than usual, and Australia are desperate to regain the trophy after failing to make the final last time out in 2017.

It does not take a wild imagination to envisage Meg Lanning hoisting the trophy in Christchurch on 3 April, but a loss to India in the third ODI of the series in September and a comprehensive defeat at the hands of New Zealand in a warm up match this week have exposed some rare weaknesses.

The inability to take wickets – which was heavily exposed in the 2017 semi-final loss to India – was again a concern against the Black Ferns. Australia failed to defend a strong total of 321, taking only one wicket as Sophie Devine (161 not out) and Amelia Kerr (92 not out) chased down the total with ease and more than six overs to spare. Rival teams will have been taking notes on the way the Ferns were able to evade the bowling of the No 1-ranked ODI team.

A World Cup is a different beast to a regular series; the tiniest slip up can spell the end of a team’s chances, as Australia know all too well after a shock defeat to India in the first round of the 2020 T20 World Cup brought them close to exiting the tournament at the semi-final stage. An almost miraculous break in the weather allowed that match to be played and Australia progressed to the final, which they won, but it was a close-run thing.

The format of this tournament allows a little more leeway for those slip ups. Rather than being divided