Welcome back, Meg Lanning.
In her first international fixture since she decided to step away from cricket for six months to freshen her mind after more than a decade in the green and gold, Lanning reminded the world just how good she is to help Australia cruise past Pakistan.
She took four deliveries to get her eye in, with the fifth one crashing into the fence as she unleashed a trademark square drive to get off the mark.
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Lanning was put down on six and made the visitors pay, sharing a 137-run partnership with debutant Phoebe Litchfield as Australia romped to an eight-wicket victory with 67 balls to spare.
After the bowlers restricted Pakistan to 160 in a rain-shortened innings, Lanning was thrust into the run chase after the rock solid Beth Mooney was knocked over in the opening over.
“It was good fun out there,” Lanning said.
“I was a little nervous heading into the game, not sure what to expect. But once I got out onto the ground, it all came back to me pretty quickly.
“From a mental point of view and feeling fresh and relaxed, that’s the key for me.
“I feel like I’m in a good spot with that at the moment, still a work in progress and I certainly don’t have everything worked out. But I feel like I’m in a good spot and I’m excited to be back playing for Australia.”
The skipper played all the shots in an effortless knock as she brought up 4500 ODI runs and then swept her way to 50 off 62 deliveries.
She never looked like getting out but that all changed in the space of two deliveries as she survived a run out shout off a free hit, only to feather a catch to the wicketkeeper off her next delivery to depart for 67.
With her every step of the way was teen sensation Phoebe Litchfield who became the first Aussie woman in seven years to post a half-century in her maiden ODI.
“Meg was great,” Litchfield said.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever batted with her. She just knew what to say at the right times, and whenever I felt under pressure, she banged a four.
“She was straight back at it and it doesn’t look like she’s missed any cricket.”
It was a controlled knock from the 19-year-old who continues to show why she’s been dubbed a future star of the international game and looms as a genuine chance of being included in the squad for next month’s T20 World Cup.
Litchfield only grew in confidence once Lanning departed, hitting back-to-back boundaries and a six in the same over before she hit the winning run to finish unbeaten on 78 filling in for the injured Alyssa Healy.
“I was thinking so many things over in my head last night,” the rookie said.
“So for that to come off, I’m pretty relieved. To hit the winning runs is a nice feeling.”
Things couldn’t have gone any better for Lanning who made all the right moves in the first innings with eight bowlers sharing the load, with Darcie Brown and Jess Jonassen each taking two scalps.
The same can’t be said for Pakistan who were saved by a classy Nida Dar half-century, although she was involved in a comical run out that saw her heading to the pavilion before she was recalled and Kainat Imtiaz was sent packing instead.
It was fitting that Lanning was involved in the run out, while she was all smiles when she held onto a catch late in the innings to help the hosts go 1-0 up in the three-game series.
