McGrath praises Australia’s depth before South Africa clash

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Australia vice-captain Tahlia McGrath believes the team’s depth has been one of their biggest strengths at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup with different players stepping up in every game to keep their unbeaten run going.

The defending champions continued their dominant campaign with a convincing win over England in their last outing.

The architects of their recent victory were Ash Gardner, who scored a superb unbeaten century and also picked up two wickets, and Annabel Sutherland, who followed up her three-wicket haul with an unbeaten 98. McGrath feels those contributions reflected the side’s biggest asset, their depth.

“We always talk about our depth as a group, the strength of us and we’ve seen someone different stand up every time. Ash (Gardner) has got two hundreds, Midge (Alyssa Healy) has got two hundreds, Moons (Beth Mooney) with that huge hundred for us (against Pakistan),” she said in a press conference.

The highlight of Australia’s recent win was the massive 180-run stand for the fifth wicket between Gardner and Sutherland that dug the side out of trouble from 68/4, and handed them a comfortable win.

“The other thing we talk about is big partnerships so that’s really crucial for us. We’ve got that much depth if it doesn’t come up at the top of the order, nobody panics, we feel like we can win from any situation and we feel as though we’ve got enough talent to get the job done.”

Another standout performer has been Sophie Molineux, who despite playing just three games has been their second-highest wicket-taker with eight scalps. Molineux has slowly been eased back into the side after a prolonged break from the game due to injury and McGrath was full of praise for the left-arm spinner’s contributions despite the veteran featuring in few games.

The Australia vice captain said: “The most pleasing thing for me is that she’s had a huge impact for us in this World Cup. She’s a crucial player and it’s been awesome to see how much of a role she’s played for us with not much cricket leading in.

“She’s worked extremely hard to be at this World Cup and she’s been a huge player for us so whether it’s against South Africa or in the (semi) finals, she’s already been a huge player for us and she will be for the rest of tournament, so it’s been awesome to see her do well.”

McGrath also provided a positive update on Healy, who missed the England game with a calf strain.

“Midge is in training today. We haven’t finalised an eleven yet but she’s still a little bit of a day-by-day case and we will see how that pans out,” she revealed.

Australia face South Africa in their final group stage game on Saturday, a clash between two in-form sides.

The Proteas have won five matches in a row following their opening defeat to England and will be brimming with confidence after defeating Pakistan by 150 runs via the DLS method in their last outing where they piled up 312 in just 40 overs.

McGrath acknowledged the challenge that awaits but said Australia are eager to carry their momentum into the knockouts.

“South Africa are a dangerous side and we’ve seen that a lot in this tournament. We do have a good record against them and there’s plenty to play for in this World Cup. We want to take that momentum into the finals and we also want to finish at the top spot. There’s still lots to play for and it’s going to be a really tough game,” she stated.