Australia 'embracing' daunting prospect of 15,000-strong World Cup final crowd
Australia will have to contend with about 15,000 screaming fans as well as the opposition when they take on the Twenty20 Women's World Cup final.
The Aussies are shooting for a sixth Cup triumph in eight tournaments when they step onto Newlands Cricket Ground at midnight on Sunday.
They take on the hosts South Africa, who shocked England in the semi to book a spot in the decider.
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As soon as South Africa won that match, fans swarmed the ticket booths to secure a seat to the final.
Tickets sold out in minutes, and Australia will once again play the World Cup final in front of a full house.
Georgia Wareham of Australia celebrates with Alana King during the Women's T20 World Cup. (Photo by Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images) ICC via Getty Images
Newlands can only hold a fraction of the 86,174 who packed the Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch the Aussies win in 2020.
And while this time the crowd won't be on their side, captain Meg Lanning hopes to use the energy inside the stadium as added fuel.
"You naturally expect everybody to be going for South Africa, it's their home World Cup and they deserve their opportunity to play off in the finals, so we know sort of what we're up against," Lanning said ahead of the final.
"We'll have to make sure we focus on what we can control.
"We spoke a little bit about just embracing (the crowd) and I think in the past we've always dealt really well with situations like this, just focusing on what we can control and what we're doing.
"It's not scary, it's not something we're not looking forward to, we're actually really pumped to get out here and play at an incredible venue.
"It's one of my favourite places I've been to, so we're just looking to go out there, play our way and hopefully we can get the job done."
The No.1 ranked Aussies have lost only one international T20 game since March 2021.
Women's Twenty20 World Cup final
Australia vs South Africa at Newlands Cricket Stadium
From midnight Sunday (AEDT)
Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Alyssa Healy (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham
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