3 times Meg Lanning proved to be a great captain off the field

Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Meg Lanning top-scored for the team in their Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 match against the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai on Thursday, March 9.

Lanning scored 43 off 41 in Delhi’s disappointing total of 105 in 18 overs after they won the toss and opted to bat. Jemimah Rodrigues’s 25 was the next-best score in Delhi’s innings.

In reply, Mumbai Indians raced home to victory by eight wickets in 15 overs as Yastika Bhatia (41 off 32), Hayley Matthews (32 off 31) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (23* off 11) played handy knocks.

While Delhi’s loss was the result of a collective failure, Lanning took a lot of responsibility for the defeat, stating that she should have carried on after getting her eye in and eating up quite a few balls.

The prolific batter commented:

“Unfortunately in the innings we just couldn’t put partnerships together. I’ll take a lot of blame for that. I think I took up some balls early and then got out at a crucial time which was disappointing.

"We needed a set batter to get us through towards the back end. So that was a difference really, you know, lots of stuff to work on.”

Lanning, 30, is known as a wonderful skipper not just on the field, but off it as well.

In this feature, we look back at three other instances when the Australian captain proved to be a great captain off the field.

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#1 How Lanning inspired Australia ahead of T20 World Cup 2023 final

Meg Lanning signs an autograph after the 2023 Women's T20 World Cup final. Pic: Getty Images

Australia Women went into the T20 World Cup 2023 final against hosts South Africa last month as favorites. They staved off the Proteas challenge in the summit clash at Newlands in Cape Town.

While Australia’s victory was least surprising, teammate Megan Schutt gave an insight into how Lanning ensured no complacency set into the Aussie camp ahead of the final.

She was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au:

"Her chat before the game was cool, because it was a bit more ampy, there were a few swear words in there and Meg doesn't swear a lot. It ended with, 'let's effing go' ... I won't say the actual word, I'll get in trouble, but when she swears, it just makes that oomph.

"But she (generally) just has a calm aura around her, she's played a lot of cricket in her time and been a leader for so long that she knows what people need to succeed, whether that's individually or as a team.

"It rubs off on us, and what we speak about pre-match, is making sure that we hold our calm in the chaos moments because there's a lot of them, especially in T20.”

While Lanning was dismissed for 10 in the final, Australia posted a competitive 156/6 batting first and then held South Africa to 137/6.

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#2 Ready to face backlash for tough decisions

Australian left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen. Pic: Getty Images

As a captain, players sometimes have to sometimes make extremely tough decisions. But it takes a big heart to accept that a gamble is a gamble.

Lanning and Co. made such a decision during their league game against New Zealand during the 2022 Women’s World Cup match at Basin Reserve in Wellington.

Australia dropped seasoned left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen from their playing XI. The Aussies went on to hammer the Kiwis by 141 runs as Ellyse Perry (68), Tahlia McGrath (57) and Ashleigh Gardner (48* off 18) starred with the ball. Darcie Brown then claimed a three-wicket haul.

While Australia went on to win the match without much trouble, Lanning candidly admitted that the move to leave out Jonassen was a big risk. She said after the game:

"We had a tough selection today, Jess Jonassen missed out, she is a world-class bowler but we felt we wanted the extra pace option was the way to go because we wanted to be aggressive up front.

"It worked today, it may not another day, but that's the way we want to look at every game this World Cup.”

After putting up 269/8 on the board against New Zealand in Wellington, Australia bundled out the hosts for 128 in 30.2 overs.

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#3 Giving credit to the opposition where it is due

Australia v South Africa - ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 Final. Pic: Getty Images

Apart from praising her own team, Lanning is also known for being lavish in her praise of opponents, wherever credit is due.

Speaking ahead of the 2023 T20 World Cup final against South Africa, the Aussie skipper made a big statement on the opposition bowling attack and said:

"No doubt their pace attack is right up there with the best in the world. They've got some world-class players. It's their home conditions, they understand them really well and what works and what doesn't.

"There's going to be moments when South Africa will be on top, they'll have the momentum, the crowd will be on their side.”

Lanning was spot on as South Africa’s pacers did make life tough for Australia’s batters in the final.

However, Beth Mooney's seasoned hand, coupled with some sharp bowling and Proteas’ lack of big-match experience, proved to be clinching factors as the Aussies prevailed in the end.

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