Australia sweat over Meg Lanning's fitness

These days in the sport, some things have been a rather regular occurrence. One is Steven Smith's insatiable appetite for runs in the Ashes and the resultant inability of England to dismiss him and the other is Ellyse Perry's opponents being under a mush regarding the way to send her back to the dressing room. She has not been dismissed in her last six innings across formats. Terrific to say the least.



Australia have already clinched the ODI series against the home side and are aiming for yet another whitewash in the third and final ODI.



On both the matches Australia batted first and notched up 300-plus total on board. Over the course of series, Australian batters have put on a batting masterclass and have three players who have notched up hundreds already - Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning.  The absence of Lanning, the Australian skipper, in the second ODI made little impact on the other batters as Perry, Healy, Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney gave the home side a torrid time.



Lanning notched her 13th century in the first ODI and would have been looking for another one, but her recurring back problem cropped up again and she had to pull out just before the toss on Sunday (September 8).



It's not the first time Lanning has experienced back issues, having missed an ODI against Pakistan last October for the same reason. Lanning has been working hard to get back in the best shape possible for the third ODI to played on Wednesday (September 11). Such has been her dedication that she has opted for water-based recovery to get fit and running.



Australian bowlers so far in the series have had it reasonably easy due to batters putting on a show. Barring the extras in the first game the bowling unit has shot opposition down to total below 200 in both the matches so far. Naturally, the management is happy with the performances so far.



"We've been playing really well batting first and making some big totals which is really promising," Australia assistant coach Shelley Nitschke said on Tuesday.



"Our batting unit is really firing. It's always a bonus to have no scoreboard pressure."



The last ODI of the three-match series is to played at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua, and Australia will hope to inflict more misery on their opponents. West Indies will be hoping to put on a better show and run the Australians close.