McGrath, Devine expect scoring bonanza in CWC25 clash

Australia and New Zealand are set for Indore cricket to launch their respective ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 campaigns and it's a game that promises so much.

The pivotal Trans-Tasman clash not only reignites what the teams dub as 'The Friendly Rivalry', but it also marks the first time a Women's ODI game will be played at Indore's Holkar Stadium.

And it's fair to expect fireworks - the players certainly are.

"It looks like a really high scoring ground, it looks like a really nice batting wicket and, just walking across the ground (earlier), it just looks like such a cool stadium to play at," Australia vice-captain Tahlia McGrath said to media.

"So it's hitting us now that it's here; the World Cup's here, we've been waiting so long and it's been on our calendar for so long and the excitement's there, we feel like we're really well prepped and ready to go, so can't wait for (the game)."

Reigning champions Australia will kick off their tournament full of confidence, looking to repeat the feats of their predecessors and claim back-to-back titles for just the second time in Women's Cricket World Cup history, after Australia managed that milestone in 1978 and then 1982 (before winning a third consecutive crown in 1988).

The Aussies beat England in the most recent 50-over World Cup Final, claiming a 71-run win in Christchurch in 2022.

"World Cups are the hardest to win," McGrath continued.

"Every game's crucial, you need to be on every game. New Zealand are a really good side, they've been playing some really good cricket of late and they've got some players in their squad that we haven't come across before, so we're excited for the challenge, excited for the challenge of a new wicket that we're not very familiar with, and most importantly, our prep has been awesome, I think we're in a really good spot and we're just so excited to kick off.

"We've played each other a lot over the last 12 months and know each other's game really well, so it's exciting we get to kick off our World Cup campaign against them and, yeah, we just finished our prep meeting and think we match up really nicely. So we go into this clash really confident and really excited."

Equally, New Zealand are relishing the opportunity to take on another of the tournament's heavyweights first-up. The White Ferns aren't shying away from the brutal reality that bulk runs are simply a must against quality opponents.

"We know that in this competition, especially on some of the wickets that we're going to face over here in India, run scoring is going to be incredibly important," said New Zealand captain Sophie Devine ahead of their clash with Australia.

Captain Sophie Devine during the pre-match press conference ahead of the team's CWC25 opener against Australia.

"And it's up to everyone. We can't just rely on the top four, we need the middle order, there's going to be crucial runs scored by the lower order as well, at some stage during this tournament. If you look to the Australia and India (warm-up) series just before this, 400 nearly wasn't enough.

"So I think it's really exciting. As batters, we certainly know that we want to take ownership and responsibility of doing the bulk of the work and we're really excited to be able to play on wickets like this, which I think are really conducive for scoring runs."

The White Ferns will take a healthy amount of respect for their opponents into the contest in Indore.

"For us, it's a really exciting opportunity to go up against the reigning champions first up," Devine continued.

"We love any opportunity that we get to play against Australia, (they're) sort of like our big sister. So, we're really excited about that and come game day, both sides start on zero.

"I think everyone knows how strong Australia is, the depth that they've got. And, I guess, that's what makes it really exciting, that you can't count any of them out, they can all contribute and perform on the day.

"For us, it just comes back to focusing on ourselves. If you're spending too much time looking through all the Aussies, it can get in your head a little bit. They're full of superstars, they've got some much experience and they're pretty handy cricketers as well.

"We know the plans that we want to execute against the team and it doesn't matter whether it's Australia or India or Pakistan or Sri Lanka, if we execute the plans that we've got in place, that we believe are going to be right, I think we can beat any team in this competition."

Powered by an all-round display from Deepti Sharma and handy contributions from Sneh Rana and Amanjot Kaur, India beat Sri Lanka in their ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 opener.

SQUADS

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

New Zealand: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Flora Devonshire, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Melie Kerr, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Georgia Plimmer, Lea Tahuhu