Australia skipper Meg Lanning urged her team to learn from mistakes and work on them after her team's 48-run defeat to India in its final pool stage fixture of the Women's World T20.
The India-Australia match was always going to be a big-ticket contest regardless of the fact that both the teams were already in the semi-finals. But Australia simply wasn't able to turn up on match day, losing by a heavy margin in Providence.
READ: Mandhana, spinners script Aussie thrashing; India tops group
Smriti Mandhana launched a ruthless assault on the Australian bowling in scoring a 55-ball 83, and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur chipped in with a fiery 43 to propel India to 167/8. Australia, in response, was bundled for 119, India's spinners proving too hot to handle.
With the kind of depth in its batting, Australia would have hoped to make a fist of the chase, but they failed to put up sizeable partnerships.
"We thought 160-164 was about par," said the Australia captain. "We thought we would be chasing 200 at one point. We were pleased to bring them back. We know we'll have to chase totals like that if we want to win this World Cup. It was a challenge for us. And we weren't up to it today.
"We just never got going. The powerplay, we didn't really get off to that flyer. And then myself, I kept hitting the ball to the fielder, and then played a big shot and got out. And I think that happened a fair bit throughout the innings."
Rather than brood about the defeat, Lanning feels the defeat should serve as a timely learning experience for her side.
"I think there's a lot we can learn from it. We've got the power there to do it, but we just need to be a little more crafty about how we go about it and make sure we're building those big partnerships and not letting those wickets fall too often. We're definitely going to have to learn from this, which our group has done really well over the last year or so," she said.
"If we're going to win this World Cup, we'll have to chase the score around that. So we're definitely going to have to learn from this, which our group has done really well over the last year or so. I'm very confident that we'll bounce back."
A top-notch batter herself, Lanning is one to appreciate others who excel in that department, and she was unrestrained in her praise for Mandhana and Kaur.
"Mandhana played extremely well today, as did Kaur. We had some plans coming in. But you've got to adjust as you go along with the conditions. It was very windy out there today, you have to adjust to that as well. (Mandhana) is an excellent player and when she gets going, definitely difficult to stop," said Lanning.
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Australia will also be concerned about in-form batter Alyssa Healy, who sustained a concussion following an on-field collision with Megan Schutt. She didn't come out to bat in Australia's innings, and will be closely monitored over the next few days. Australia will hope that she recovers in time for their semi-final match.
"She's got a mild concussion," said Lanning. "So obviously we'll treat that carefully and monitor that over the next few days. But hopefully she's all right for us come semi-finals time."
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