Two-time World Cup winner Meg Lanning left India out of her prediction for the Women’s World Cup final, backing Australia and England to prove too strong in their semi-final to play the grand final in Navi Mumbai on November 2. Lanning knows better than most what it takes to win a knockout competition at an ICC event, having been part of two successful ICC Women’s World Cup T2 Cricket campaigns that have won five ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup tournaments. throughout his brilliant career.
In the latest episode of The ICC Review, the Australian legend dives deep into both World Cup semi-finals with host Nikhil Uttamchandani and shares his thoughts on who he thinks will come out on top. Lanning has been impressed by both sides at times during the World Cup, but feels England’s greater depth could be key to the outcome of this knockout competition.
“I think England have built up nicely during the tournament and their key players are playing well. You’ve got Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight and Sophie Ecclestone who have done really well through the tournament. If they get some contributions from a couple of others then they’re quite a dangerous team,” predicted Lanning.
Lanning believes former England captain and long-time rival Heather Knight will start for England, given her ability to perform well in the knockout stages.
“Heather Knight has a really calm nature which is really important in big games. I think it takes the pressure off Nat Sciver-Brunt and allows her to just play and dominate. So I feel like she’s the most important player for them,” suggested Lanning.
Lanning also tipped Proteas all-rounder Marizanne Kapp as a player who must perform well if South Africa are to make it to the top.
“And then it’s hard for South Africa to get past Marizanne Kapp. I think her ability to impact the game with both bat and ball is going to be key for them. She also just lifts the energy of the group when she really gets that fire in her eyes and gets into the game. So I think if she can impact the game early with bat or ball, then that will give South Africa good confidence,” Lanning noted.
Lanning knows how dangerous India will be with the local home crowd cheering them on, but feels her former side may prove too strong in this semi-final clash.
“I think Australia have just got incredible depth. They’ve shown over the course of the tournament that they’re not reliant on one or two players and even if they lose some early wickets with the bat, there’s some real big strength towards the backend that can get them out of different situations.”
Lanning believes India will miss the scoring power of injured opener Pratik Rawal and thinks the time is right for skipper Harmanpreet Kaur to step up.
“I’m going to India with captain Harmanpreet Kaur. She’s had a good tournament, but she probably hasn’t really exploded and dominated the game yet. And for me, it’s a touch nervous because I feel like it’s because of that. And when she gets going, she’s pretty impossible to stop, so she’s a key player for India,” Lanning said.
Lanning predicts former teammate Beth Mooney as a key cog for the Aussies.
“For Australia, it’s got to be Beth Mooney because she can get into any situation in the innings and adapt accordingly. If she has really good fundamentals, she’s able to keep that momentum going. And we’ve also seen that when there’s a couple of quick wickets, she’s able to kind of work her way through those innings. So we’ve seen wicks falling in tournaments.” maneuvering in those situations became really important, especially in big crunch games,” added Lanning.
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
October 29, 2025
