Captain Meg Lanning "absolutely" welcomes the unprecedented scrutiny Australia are facing while hosting the T20 World Cup. The home nation was on the brink of elimination just four days into the tournament after a shock opening loss to India and having to dig deep for victory against Sri Lanka. Lanning's troops will host Bangladesh in Canberra on Thursday in another must-win clash to keep their dream alive of playing in the final at a potentially sold-out MCG. She is backing them to handle the expectations of a nation and deliver victory against the World Cup minnows. "There's no doubt there's pressure around, there's pressure on everyone and obviously when you don't get off to an ideal start that gets talked about," Lanning said. "It was great we were able to grind out a win the other night. Hopefully that win is a bit of a kickstarter and gives us a little momentum. "Every game is a must win. In the past and we saw it the other night, this group has really embraced the pressure and played well in big moments. "Heading into this World Cup we knew there was going to be pressure. It's nothing we weren't expecting and we've played well in the past when we're under the pump." Australian women's cricket has moved from strength to strength with its top flight now fully-fledged professionals. Lanning said the scrutiny Australia had faced over the past week just proved how much has been achieved. "People want us to do well and I think it's a great sign," she said. "Obviously you'd much prefer to be playing excellent cricket and everything going your way but that's the reality, it doesn't just happen in world cups and you've got to be able to fight your way through difficult periods. "All we've talked about over the last two days is playing Bangladesh and how we could improve." Lanning defended batting their best player Ellyse Perry at six and seven in the opening games and backed the superstar all-rounder to have a big impact on the rest of the tournament. "The top six batters all could open the batting realistically and it just genuinely comes down to the matchups on the day and the game situations," Lanning said. "Ellyse is a world-class player and no doubt she'll get her chance at some point but we've just got to be really flexible and whatever the team needs we're going to do." All-rounder Sophie Molineux must pass a fitness test to play her first match of the tournament. Australian Associated Press
Meg Lanning hopes a win against Sri Lanka will provide some momentum.
Captain Meg Lanning "absolutely" welcomes the unprecedented scrutiny Australia are facing while hosting the T20 World Cup.
The home nation was on the brink of elimination just four days into the tournament after a shock opening loss to India and having to dig deep for victory against Sri Lanka.
Lanning's troops will host Bangladesh in Canberra on Thursday in another must-win clash to keep their dream alive of playing in the final at a potentially sold-out MCG.
She is backing them to handle the expectations of a nation and deliver victory against the World Cup minnows.
"There's no doubt there's pressure around, there's pressure on everyone and obviously when you don't get off to an ideal start that gets talked about," Lanning said.
"It was great we were able to grind out a win the other night. Hopefully that win is a bit of a kickstarter and gives us a little momentum.
"Every game is a must win. In the past and we saw it the other night, this group has really embraced the pressure and played well in big moments.
"Heading into this World Cup we knew there was going to be pressure. It's nothing we weren't expecting and we've played well in the past when we're under the pump."
Australian women's cricket has moved from strength to strength with its top flight now fully-fledged professionals.
Lanning said the scrutiny Australia had faced over the past week just proved how much has been achieved.
"People want us to do well and I think it's a great sign," she said.
"Obviously you'd much prefer to be playing excellent cricket and everything going your way but that's the reality, it doesn't just happen in world cups and you've got to be able to fight your way through difficult periods.
"All we've talked about over the last two days is playing Bangladesh and how we could improve."
Lanning defended batting their best player Ellyse Perry at six and seven in the opening games and backed the superstar all-rounder to have a big impact on the rest of the tournament.
"The top six batters all could open the batting realistically and it just genuinely comes down to the matchups on the day and the game situations," Lanning said.
"Ellyse is a world-class player and no doubt she'll get her chance at some point but we've just got to be really flexible and whatever the team needs we're going to do."
All-rounder Sophie Molineux must pass a fitness test to play her first match of the tournament.
