'She's a couple of shots away from being back in form'

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Australia look far too strong for injury-laden West Indies

Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy's centuries laid the foundation for Australia's first win. © CA Digital



Meg Lanning, captain of Australia, has warned Group A opponents India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Bangladesh that it is just a matter of time before Alyssa Healy turns her form around.



Healy had a torrid time in the recently concluded T20I tri-series involving India and England. She was out for five consecutive single digit scores, which often put the middle order under pressure.



“Alyssa would love to have scored more runs in the tri-series but she’s shown, especially over the past two years, how good and dangerous she is," said Lanning, speaking at the captains’ media day at Taronga Zoo, Sydney. “She’s a couple of shots away from being back in form and I’d be pretty nervous as a bowler coming up against her over the next few weeks."



“One person is not going to win you the number of games you need, so we need to make sure we perform as a team. I’ll be looking forward to seeing how she goes when she’s back."



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Australia head into the tournament as defending champions having won four of the last five editions of the T20 World Cup. The hosts though were from their best, as they lost two matches on their way to the title in the tri-sereis. Australia's batting was patchy, and they will quickly want to forget that and move on.



Australia are placed in Group A alongside New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India as their opponents. The hosts no doubt start as favourites, but Lanning is not ready to take things for granted and wants her team to continue to be ruthless.



 “Everyone starts on a level playing field, we’ve got a really tough group and the first goal is to get out of that."



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"It’s not going to be easy, we haven’t thought further than the first game because it’s pretty cut-throat, take your eye off that for a second and you could be in trouble."











“We’re very aware that we have to play extremely well on the day to win, and it can only be a good thing for women’s cricket that there are a number of sides who can come here and do well.”



Australia open their campaign in what is going to be a high-voltage clash against India at the Sydney Showgrounds on Friday (February 21).











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