Aussies eager to park T20s after rare home series loss

Sophie Molineux says Australia will take plenty of lessons out of their T20I series defeat to India ahead of the World Cup, but first, it will be crucial to park the disappointment and move on quickly to the ODI format.

Australia’s new T20I era under skipper Molineux started in inauspicious fashion, with the 1-2 result their first series loss in any format on home soil since November 2017.

It has left them with plenty of questions ahead of the T20 World Cup in June, but more immediately, they will go into the ODI leg of the multi-format series trailing 2-4 ahead of the first one-dayer in Brisbane on Tuesday.

The only silverware on offer this tour is the overall India-Australia Multi-Format Series trophy, something Australia are desperate to keep in their grasp.

Speaking after Saturday’s 17-run defeat, Molineux insisted there were still plenty of positives for Australia to take from the T20Is, which were their first matches in the format in 11 months, and first games in any format since last October’s ODI World Cup.

"I think firstly, just getting back together as a group again, it's been three or four months … and we've got a massive tournament on the horizon, which we've had one eye on," Molineux said.

"I think we bowled pretty well (on Saturday) – and they batted well, Smriti (Mandhana) batted really well and Jemi (Rodrigues) come in and struck really nicely.

"We were probably happy with (chasing) 170 in the conditions.

"With the bat, we looked good early, and players got going but we just lost key wickets at really big times, which can happen in T20 cricket.

"We were probably a few short at the 10-over mark, and had to push on. But all in all, there were plenty of positives."

Australia have just two days, and one training session in Brisbane to park their T20I disappointment and ready themselves for the ODI leg, where they'll play India for the first time since Harmanpreet Kaur's team knocked them out of the World Cup last October.

"That's first and foremost our priority, to get to Brisbane, reassess and park these T20s," Molineux continued.

"I think there's a lot of lessons learned that we can bring back when we're in the West Indies and prep for that T20 World Cup.

"But we've got to park that and move on to one-day cricket, which is really cool.

"Games against India in that format are always exciting, and we have to play really well to beat them."

The 50-over format has traditionally been Australia's strongest, and Molineux said the return of ODI captain Alyssa Healy – who will see out her international career over the coming fortnight – alongside leg-spinner Alana King would be a fresh injection of energy to the group.

Australia also have a point to prove following their semi-final defeat in Navi Mumbai.

"There's an extra incentive there to send her off on the best note possible as well," she said of Healy.

"Playing in Australia, on our home grounds, it's going to be a really good series, that one-day component.

"Our last format was that one-day World Cup as well, so there's plenty there that we want to bounce back from.

"Very much looking forward to getting into that format."

NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series

India lead the multi-format series 4-2

Australia T20I squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Uma Chetry, Arundhati Reddy, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Shreyanka Patil

February 15: India won by 21 runs (DLS)

February 19: Australia won by 19 runs

February 21: India won by 17 runs

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

India ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Kashvee Gautam, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol, Pratika Rawal

February 24: First ODI, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 2:50pm AEDT

February 27: Second ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT

March 1: Third ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT

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

India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare

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