Absorb the hits and push back ... that’s how the Black Panther rolls

Our ability to counterpunch when the blowtorch is applied is why we have come back strongly in this tournament.

Jess Jonassen, right, celebrates with Meg Lanning after she took a catch to dismiss Chloe Tryon during the semi-final victory over South Africa, Picture: AAP

It took us some time to agree to a theme for this tournament.

At the last T20 World Cup in the West Indies, it was all about being fearless in the way we approached our cricket. That worked well for us at that time, and in that place, but we wanted to evolve the concept knowing that hosting the tournament in 2020 would present a different set of challenges to those we faced in the Caribbean two years earlier.

We knew there would be more pressure. We knew there would be more scrutiny. We knew teams would come at us harder than ever before, placing us in difficult situations out of our comfort zone.

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I’m pretty sure it was Alyssa Healy who first mentioned the super­hero movie Black Panther.

She talked about the lead character’s ability to take pressure, absorb it and push back. That pretty much ticked all the boxes for us. It spoke to the fact that we knew we were going to have punches thrown at us and during the tournament, that we’d need to take those blows and, when the time came, counterpunch.

So Black Panther became our theme for the tournament.

I’d like to think we’ve lived up to that ethos throughout this T20 World Cup. It’s fair to say our road to the final has been quite different to what we’d planned before the tournament. Injuries to Tayla Vlaeminck and Ellyse Perry, a defeat to India that ensured the rest of our matches were effectively knockouts and weather considerations have all impacted us at various times. But we’ve found ways to respond to each of those challenges. Thursday night at the SCG was the latest example.

We arrived knowing the first semi-final had been abandoned and, if the rain kept up, we’d be eliminated. After the SCG ground staff worked their magic to get the ground ready, we started our innings strongly only for the South Africans to hit back through the middle overs. And then between innings, the rain struck again.

All were scenarios where, at a certain point, things weren’t going our way — and where we perhaps might have got frazzled in the past. The important thing was to quickly identify what the scenario was, adjust to it and seize the initiative back when the moment arrived. Black Panther, in other words. We did that against South Africa, just as we had against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in earlier games. You can endure challenging moments and still win games. We’ve proven that over the past fortnight.

The trick now will be to apply that same thinking to India in the final. We didn’t do a great job of absorbing pressure in our first game against them at the Sydney Showground, particularly when Poonam Yadav was bowling. It took us longer than it should’ve to respond to the situation. Obviously, we’ll be doing everything possible to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

We’ve been asked quite often during the tournament about whether the increased media attention and a full house at the MCG for the final (assuming we qualified) would apply more pressure. I, personally, think it’s something to be embraced. A chance to break the world record for the most attended women’s sporting event in history? That’s something you dream about. It’s going to be an amazing occasion.

I was in the middle of the MCG during the AFL grand final when Pat Cummins and I paraded our Ashes trophies. The buzz of being in the middle of the ground with almost 100,000 people there was next-level. I’m also a Swans fan and sat in the stands for the 2006 and 2014 grand finals. We lost both of those, so hopefully I’m due a good result there this weekend!

It’s not lost on any of the Australian squad how privileged we are. There have been so many who have gone before us — players, administrators, fans — who have built the platform for women’s cricket and we’re blessed to be involved at a time when their plans and aspirations are being realised.

This is a special moment in history. The whole country is rallying behind us. The coverage, the spectacle — this is the recognition previous generations have fought for. I only have to think back to my first ICC event at the 2012 World Cup in Sri Lanka, where we were largely considered a curtain-raiser to the men’s matches, to know how far we’ve come.

The main goal is still ahead. The occasion will be huge but we’ll need to absorb pressure and respond if we’re to hold the trophy aloft at the end of the final. Just as important, though, will be building on the success of this summer. I hope an event like this is the first of many moments on the big stage of women’s cricket.