T20 World Cup: Australian star Phoebe Litchfield battles groin issue

Australia easily won its first warm-up game in the UAE, but a pair of explosive batters are in doubt for the start of the T20 World Cup.

Important Australian batter Phoebe Litchfield is in doubt for Thursday’s T20 World Cup opener against Sri Lanka after reporting groin soreness at training.

Litchfield joined fellow middle-order hitter Grace Harris (calf) on the sidelines as Australia beat England by 33 runs in its first warm-up game on Sunday and was ruled out of the following practice match against the West Indies on Tuesday.

Harris has not played a competitive match since Australia’s tour of Bangladesh in April after suffering repeat calf setbacks that kept her out of the English Hundred competition this winter.

While both remain in doubt for the first game of the tournament against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, Australia has not moved to fly any players over to the UAE to reinforce its 15-player squad.

Australian star Phoebe Litchfield (right) is in doubt for the opening game of the T20 World Cup against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Thursday. Picture: Bradley Kanaris / Getty Images

Seam bowler Heather Graham returned to state duties with Tasmania after joining the Australian squad as an extra player in the three-match T20 series against New Zealand that concluded last week.

Australia dealt with the loss of Litchfield smoothly to post 6-162 from 20 overs in the win over England at Dubai’s ICC Academy, with Beth Mooney crashing a half-century off 30 balls and vice-captain Tahlia McGrath adding 31 off 22.

England was in striking distance at 2-90 in the 13th over but never accelerated as McGrath (3-18) and Sophie Molineux (2-27) reaped the rewards of a climbing run rate.

McGrath said the win was a “perfect way to start off our campaign”.

Vice-captain Tahlia McGrath says Australia’s biggest challenge at the World Cup will be adjusting to the ‘heat factor’ in the UAE. Picture: Mark Evans / Getty Images

“It was really good to get out here in very unfamiliar conditions to us … and really work as a team to communicate what works here and what doesn’t,” she said after the game.

“The biggest thing for us is just the heat factor, and with our first game being a day game, it’s going to be really important with our strategies and coping with that. That’s going to be the biggest challenge for us.

“I absolutely hated doing all our sauna prep in the lead-up, but it’s probably worth it. Any little edge or advantage we can get, we’re going to go there.”

The tournament, where Australia will attempt to claim its fourth consecutive T20 World Cup title, was shifted to the UAE only five weeks ago due to political turmoil and violence in Bangladesh.

England and India, who Australia beat 2-1 in a three-match T20 series in January, loom as the biggest threats to a World Cup four-peat.

Originally published as T20 World Cup: Australian star Phoebe Litchfield battles groin issue