Feeling really confident heading into the first ODI - Meg Lanning

Meg Lanning spent some quality time at the crease © Getty

On the back of two comprehensive wins in the practice games against India A in Mumbai, Australia captain Meg Lanning is confident that her side is well prepared to take on India in the ODI series that starts next week in Vadodara. The Australians thrashed India A by 321 runs in the first practice game and followed it up with a seven-wicket win on Thursday (March 8).

After falling cheaply for 1 in the opening practice game, Lanning was keen to fire with the bat. She got off to an iffy start after promoting herself up the order. However, once she got her eye in, the 25-year-old hit four successive boundaries to bring up her half-century.

"It was nice to spend some time out in the middle today," Lanning said after the match. "First game, I was quite rusty, so it got a bit to get used to. It was important today to spend some time out in the middle. (I) Got the chance to open up, which was good, just to get into it straightaway. (I'm) feeling really confident now heading into the first ODI.

"The over I hit the six - I got a couple of boundaries away, that's when I felt like I could hit them cleanly. I did feel quite scratchy again. I was telling myself, 'stick it out, spend some time out in the middle, it'll get easier'. Luckily it did and (I'm) really happy with getting away that off my back."

The Australia captain ensured that other players also got an opportunity to spend some time out in the middle as she retired for 63. She said, "Only a couple of practice matches, we wanted everyone to have a crack at, in the middle. Rach [Rachael Haynes] and [Elyse] Villani needed to go as well. It was great that they were able to go and finish off the game nicely."

After the batters setting up a win for them in the first practice match, it was the turn of the Australian bowlers to shine in the second. They skittled out India A for 170 and the captain was mighty impressed with the effort.

"I thought our bowling was a good effort. We still got few things to tweak and probably be a little bit more consistent. Overall, pretty pleased with both batting and bowling and I think everyone's got a lot out of the two practice games.

I think Nic Carey's come into the side and started really well. Over here, she would be quite effective with her skiddy bowling targeting the stumps. She's been really impressive. Other new players like Sophie Molineux have been very calm and collected and slotted in nicely. It's great to see those girls coming in and doing really well."

The Australian team management have a problem (good one) on their hands - select the best eleven, with plenty of players in good form. Lanning, who opened the innings, also confirmed that she will go back to her original position - number three - for the first ODI. "It's going to be a tough one. We have a lot of batters in form and lot of batters who bat high up the order as well. We have a strong line-up whichever way we go. Definitely going to be difficult to settle in that final eleven.

"Today was more about just getting an opportunity to spend some time in the middle. We got plenty of openers in the side who can do the job - which is a great thing. I'll slot back to number three," she added.

When asked what her team would be expecting in Vadodara, Lanning said, "We don't know a lot. We've never played there before. The good thing is we have a couple of practice sessions before the first game and we feel that the conditions will be similar to what we have had. We have had plenty of time to train now and get used to the conditions. I'm sure we'll be ready to go."

"We've done a little bit of research," said Lanning when asked if her team had any plans against India's youngsters. "We have a planning meeting coming up . We'll go through everything then and make sure we are across where we need to be. It's important that we have a look at the new players because some players came into their side and did well in South Africa, especially Rodriguez. We need to be ready from them, and we will be, during the first ODI."

When asked to give her view on the second string Indian side (India A), Lanning said, "I think they showed some real glimpses throughout the couple of games. Their opening bowlers were really good. I found them really challenging today. There's definitely some real talent there. The more they are exposed to playing against international teams and the more cricket they play the better they'll get. That's good thing for cricket around the world. The Indian women's team is a strong team which is great."