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Aussie women finally get shot at March 8

3 minute read

Australia's women's cricketers have been asked about the Twenty20 World Cup final at the MCG since January 2018. On Sunday they can finally play in it.

MEG LANNING
MEG LANNING Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Australia have spent almost 800 days being asked about Sunday's Twenty20 World Cup final at the MCG but are eager to stop talking and finally play.

Sunday's clash with India will be the biggest match in the women's team's history, with players admitting it is more than just a game of cricket.

Realistically, from the moment the ICC announced the goal of a sold-out MCG way back in January 2018, the pressure has been on Australia to be there.

Almost every press conference since has seen questions geared towards it, with players regularly reminded of the carrot on offer at the end of the campaign.

But captain Meg Lanning insisted it wasn't so much a feeling of relief to finally secure their spot, via Thursday's dramatic semi-final win over South Africa.

"I don't know if relief is the right word," Lanning said.

"World Cups are extremely hard to win, and every one I've played in, we've lost a round game. We've had to fight extremely hard to win the semi and get through.

"We never came into this World Cup just thinking it was going to happen and it was going to be easy.

"We knew we weren't owed anything. We had to go out and win this World Cup. We're not defending it. We're out here to win it."

"I'm pretty happy that March 8 has come around. Now we can just talk about India and Australia and what a great game it's going to be."

Regardless, players know how special Sunday can be.

Around 60,000 tickets were understood to have been sold before Thursday night's semi-final victory, and that number is only expected to rise.

India's presence is also likely to boost numbers, with organisers keeping the figure of 90,085 in their sights as the world record figure for any stand-alone women's sporting event.

"It will be different (to any other game), no doubt about that," Lanning said.

"I've been to the MCG when there's 100,000 fans there, and I've been in the stands, and the atmosphere is absolutely incredible.

"I've sort of had goose bumps watching. To think that we'll be out in the middle experiencing that, that's going to be really exciting.

"This tournament was always about showing there's a pathway, that there's female role models out there for young girls to look up to."

Quick Megan Schutt added that the team felt more relieved to make the 2018 final after being clear favourites, but that Sunday's final carried special weight.

"It's definitely not (just another game)," she said.

"In a way (it is) but at the same time this country needs a bit of joy and to want to set a new world record is a cool thing to be a part of."

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