Women’s ODI World Cup | ‘We know what we need to do’, Australia captain Alyssa Healy fires warning shots

‌Australia are favourites to lift their eighth Women’s ODI World Cup, but captain Alyssa Healy feels the competition will be intense as the marquee event kicks off in India and Sri Lanka from September 30. However, in the 12 editions of the ODI World Cup so far, Australia have won the title seven times and England have won four, with New Zealand being the only other side to win a trophy when they triumphed in 2000.

The Aussie Women had the perfect build-up to this World Cup, winning a three-match ODI series against hosts India last week. Healy and Co. will take the field against Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in Indore on October 1 with the hopes of defending the World title for the third time in its history. They first did it in 1982 before repeating the feat in the next edition in 1988 to make it three titles in a row.

"I firmly believe that this is going to be the tightest World Cup that we have been a part of," she said. "Defending a title is not easy. Obviously, no one has really done it for a long period of time, but it's not really about that. Every team is here to win the World Cup. We know what we need to do. We have to beat every single side in the world to be able to lift that trophy at the end.

But I think it's going to be about who can hold their composure the longest in this tournament and handle the pressure for long periods of time. You are going to have to sustain pressure at different points in time, and put it back on the opposition when you get the opportunity."

The wicketkeeper-batter was also quick to dismiss talks of complacency creeping in and ensured that the side would put their best foot forward to win their eighth ICC ODI World Cup title. Australia are in the midst of a dominant run in the international women’s game, losing their first match in 11 months when India beat them in the second ODI. Their last defeat before that came against South Africa in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year.

"I don't think it's quite in the Australian culture to get too complacent about things at any point in time," Healy said. "People tend to write more about us when we lose than when we actually win. It's quite a nice thing to experience. I feel like I'm part of a really special group at the moment that wants to be better every single day. They are working to improve themselves both on and off the field, which I think is a really great place to be.

"The fact that that mindset's already in place just allows them to go out there and enjoy their cricket on the field. And that's basically as simple as it gets. We go out there, we compete as hard as we possibly can, and hopefully the results go our way."