Aussie coach hails 'excellent prep' despite warm-up defeat

‘We weren’t on top of our game but good take aways’: Nitschke

Australia coach Shelley Nitschke has put her team’s warm-up match batting issues down to poor decision making but says she is satisfied with their World Cup preparation ahead of Wednesday’s opening game against New Zealand.

In good batting conditions at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday, Australia were bowled out for 247 in 34.4 overs after being sent in by England.

The Aussies scored at 7.13 runs per over after opener Phoebe Litchfield’s 46-ball 71 set the tone, but a collapse of 6-40 left them with a total that Engand ultimately chased in 44.3 overs.

With regular No.3 Ellyse Perry sidelined by illness and No.4 Beth Mooney – coming off a career-best 138 in the final ODI against India – demoted down the order to give others time in the middle, Australia lacked the stabilising influence of the experienced pair.

Mooney eventually came in at No.9 and hit an unbeaten 59, with Australia’s next highest score Ashleigh Gardner’s 28.

Many of the Australian dismissals – five of which were to leg-spinner Sarah Glenn – came via loose shots as they looked to keep up the momentum, with Nitschke putting it down to shot selection rather than undue aggression.

“We just probably didn’t make some of the right choices … Sarah Glenn bowled really well, and we didn’t play her particularly well,” Nitschke said.

“So, credit to her, but we just needed to probably be a bit smarter with some of our decision making there.

“It’s about playing the game and learning what’s on and what’s not on and when to drive it up, and making sure that you give yourself a chance as well.

“I think that’s probably the main thing, is giving ourselves a chance out there.

“Some of the dismissals weren’t really through going too hard, I think just a bit of shot selection.”

Phoebe Litchfield shone in her 71 // Sam Gosling

The four-wicket defeat rounded out Australia’s preparations ahead of Wednesday’s showdown with the White Ferns in Indore, in what will be the first ever international women’s game at Holkar Stadium.

It capped a mixed bag across the past two-and-a-half weeks, following a seesawing ODI series against India that saw Australia cruise to an eight-wicket win first up, then get humbled by 102 runs in the second game when they were bowled out for 190 chasing 292.

The series decider then saw the Aussies successfully defend 412 against a rampant Smriti Mandhana on a flat track in Delhi.

“The bilateral series against India was a hard-fought series in some tough bowling conditions, and a real challenge … I thought that was excellent prep,” Nitschke said.

“Then to come out here tonight, slightly different conditions, a red clay pitch as opposed to the black soil that we were playing on in the bilateral (series) – so we certainly have been exposed to some different conditions and learnt a lot and had to adapt to that.

“I’d like to think that now we’re in a good place, and have had enough exposure, we’ve been here for long enough to acclimatise and just looking forward now to getting into it.”

The Australian camp has also dealt with its share of niggles, but in positive news, all three of Litchfield (quad), Darcie Brown (back) and Annabel Sutherland (hip) returned for the warm-up game against England, with Brown particularly impressive in her six-over spell of 1-30.

Sophie Molineux also played her first competitive game since undergoing knee surgery in January, taking 1-37 from 5.3 overs to push her case for selection against the White Ferns.

“Just to see her out there was fantastic,” Nitschke said of Molineux.

“It’s been (almost) 12 months, but just to have her out there bowling again, that’s a really good thing for us and our squad.

“We’ll sit down in the next couple of days and assess everything and see how we line up … we’re going to be faced with some pretty tough calls throughout the whole tournament.

“We’ve got a really good squad here. Everyone, at some point, played really well, so we’ve got some decisions to make for sure.”

2025 Women’s ODI World Cup

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Australia’s warm-up match

September 28: England won by four wickets

Australia’s group stage matches

October 1: v New Zealand, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 7:30pm AEST

October 4: v Sri Lanka, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7:30pm AEST

October 8: v Pakistan, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 8:30pm AEDT

October 12: v India, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8:30pm AEDT

October 16: v Bangladesh, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8:30pm AEDT

October 22: v England, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT

October 25: v South Africa, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT

Finals

Semi-final 1: Guwahati or Colombo*, October 29, 8:30pm AEDT