Tahlia McGrath hated every minute of the tough acclimatisation program she had to endure in Australia's preparations for the brutally hot T20 World Cup that awaits in the UAE.
But one of Australia's star allrounders is already beginning to feel it may all have been worth it as she rediscovered a hot streak of form in Dubai on Sunday to help her side warm up for their title defence with the standout performance in an encouraging 33-run win over England.
In the first of two preparation games before Alyssa Healy's champs kick off their campaign in Sharjah against Sri Lanka on Saturday, McGrath was in fine nick with both bat and ball.
The 28-year-old from Adelaide first hammered 31 off 22 balls in Australia's 6-162 and then took 3-18 to help skittle one of the leading contenders for their crown for 129.
"The biggest thing for us is just this heat factor, and with our first game being a day game, our strategies coping with that are going to be really important," said McGrath, ahead of what promises to be the most demanding defence as they go for a fourth straight crown.
"I absolutely hated doing all our sauna prep in the lead-up, but it's probably worth it, and we've had a really good team behind us giving us all the right advice," said McGrath.
"Any little edge or advantage we can get, we're gonna go there, so it's all helping, I hope."
The evergreen Beth Mooney starred in Australia's innings after they were put in to bat, cracking a half-century off just 30 balls, with seven boundaries, while fellow luminaries Healy (12) and Ellyse Perry (7) both failed to fire.
But there were useful runs right down the order, with Ash Gardner scoring 21 off 19 balls and Georgia Wareham gleaning 18no from 15 balls while McGrath cracked four boundaries in her inventive knock.
"It was nice to spend a little bit of time out in the middle today and try a few things that I've been working on, and nice that they came off," she said.
"I've been trying to add the ramp to my game for a very long time, so to get one out there today, I was stoked."
England's chase looked threatening when Alice Capsey was at the crease, but her 34-ball 40 was ended by Sophie Molineux, who took 2-27 off her four overs.
After the 20-year-old had departed, England's main hopes rested with Nat Sciver-Brunt, but McGrath had her caught by Wareham for 12.
Six different Aussie bowlers went on to take wickets - Darcie Brown (1-18), Wareham (1-12), Annabel Sutherland (1-4), Ash Gardner (1-15), Molineux and McGrath.
"It was the perfect way to start off our campaign in a warm-up game against top opponents," said McGrath.
The only real concern on the horizon for Healy remains the fitness of two key players, who sat out the fixture and will also miss the final warm-up against West Indies on Tuesday.
Batter Phoebe Litchfield has groin soreness suffered at training over the weekend, while ebullient allrounder Grace Harris is recovering from a calf strain and was back training on Sunday.
The tournament kicks off on Thursday with Scotland playing Bangladesh, while England play Bangladesh on Saturday in a double header at Sharjah following Australia's opener.
