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Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, who is currently part of Australia men's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India away from home in India, wished their women's national side good luck ahead of their ICC Women's T20 World Cup final on Sunday.
Australia and South Africa will be meeting in the final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Cape Town on Sunday. While South Africa will be aiming to lift the first-ever world title for the country by any senior team, be it men or women, Australia will be seeking to complete the hat-trick of T20 World Cup wins, having won it in 2018 and 2020. Overall Aussies are the most successful team in the event's history with five titles and have reached in the final of every edition of the tournament except 2009. "It has been great to watch the tournament so far. You keep finding ways of winning from positions you probably should not, so credit to you there. You keep winning these things. Good luck for Sunday. I hope it is a wonderful game and I hope you lift another trophy, possibly a second three-peat for a few of you. So good luck," said Starc as quoted by cricket.com.au. Asked about his wife Alyssa Healy's record in final matches of ICC events, Starc said, "She likes big games and has been building nicely. Everyone's doing great, batters, bowlers and keepers." Healy is the third-highest scorer in the tournament so far, having scored 171 runs in four matches at an average of 57.00 with two fifties and the best individual score of 55. Australia entered the final after a thrilling five-run win over India in the first semi-final. On the other hand, South Africa made their historic entry into the final after a nail-biting six-run win over England. Ahead of the final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023, Australian skipper Meg Lanning admitted that South Africa, who earned the first-ever qualification by the country's senior team to a World Cup event, is riding a wave of emotion following their win over England in the semifinal and her side is prepared for home support for the hosts and an incredible game in Cape Town. "South Africa is playing really good cricket. We are expecting them to come out and play to their full strength. They are riding a wave of emotion so we are certainly prepared for that. Their semi-final against England had an incredible atmosphere and the crowd was certainly cheering for the home team, as you would expect here, so we are prepared for that," she said quoted by ICC. "We know we are probably not going to be the team that everyone is cheering for but that is fine, you know it is going to be an incredible atmosphere and an incredible game at an amazing venue. We are pumped, we cannot wait to get out there and play and no doubt it is going to be a great contest," Lanning added. South African skipper Sune Luus said that the "amazing" performance of her team has put women's cricket on the map in her country and winning the title would be an "ultimate cherry on top". "It has been an amazing tournament so far, on and off the field," Luus said as quoted by ICC. "The goal for us was to inspire the nation, to get women's cricket in South Africa on the map, for young girls and boys to pick up their bat and ball and, and I guess just for women's sport in general in South Africa to be raised and to be on the map as well." "In terms of that, we are definitely doing the job. It is something we never thought would happen in our country, people standing in queues to buy tickets for a women's cricket match. It is very special. I do not think we can do much more to show that we are serious about women's cricket in this country. Winning the final would be the ultimate cherry on the top," concluded the skipper. (ANI)
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