"They've got some players in squad that we haven't come across before": McGrath praises NZ Women ahead of Cricket World Cup fixture

Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], October 1 (ANI): Ahead of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 match against New Zealand Women, Australia Women vice-captain Tahlia McGrath hailed her opponents, saying that they are a "really good" side and there are some new players in White Ferns side who they will be playing for the first time.

Both teams, Australia and New Zealand, begin their ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 campaign on Wednesday as they face off against each other in Indore.

McGrath shared her feelings on Holkar Cricket Stadium, where the defending champions are set to play their opening game of the mega event.

Expressing her thoughts on Indore's ground, the 29-year-old cricketer told the media, as quoted by ICC, "It looks like a really high scoring ground, it looks like a really nice batting wicket and, just walking across the ground (earlier), it just looks like such a cool stadium to play at. It's hitting us now that it's here; the World Cup's here, we've been waiting so long and it's been on our calendar for so long and the excitement's there, we feel like we're really well prepped and ready to go, so can't wait for (the game)."

Reigning champions Australia will kick off their tournament full of confidence, looking to repeat the feats of their predecessors and claim back-to-back titles for just the second time in Women's Cricket World Cup history, after Australia managed that milestone in 1978 and then 1982 (before winning a third consecutive crown in 1988).

The Aussies beat England in the most recent 50-over World Cup Final, claiming a 71-run win in Christchurch in 2022.

"World Cups are the hardest to win. Every game's crucial; you need to be on every game. New Zealand are a really good side, they've been playing some really good cricket of late and they've got some players in their squad that we haven't come across before, so we're excited for the challenge, excited for the challenge of a new wicket that we're not very familiar with, and most importantly, our prep has been awesome, I think we're in a really good spot and we're just so excited to kick off," the all-rounder continued.

"We've played each other a lot over the last 12 months and know each other's game really well, so it's exciting we get to kick off our World Cup campaign against them and, yeah, we just finished our prep meeting and think we match up really nicely. So we go into this clash really confident and really excited," the player added.

Squads:

Australia Women: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

New Zealand Women: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Flora Devonshire, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Melie Kerr, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Georgia Plimmer, Lea Tahuhu. (ANI)

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