Australian wicket-keeper batter Alyssa Healy was on cloud nine after they clinched their seventh ICC Women World Cup title by beating arch-rivals England by 71 runs at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch on Sunday. Healy played a huge role in team’s win as she scored a mammoth knock of 170 runs off 138 balls with the help of 26 boundaries as she batted at an another level.
The veteran right-hander added 160 runs with her opening partner, Rachael Haynes, who scored 68 runs. Subsequently, Healy added another big alliance of 156 runs with Beth Mooney. Thus, Australia’s batting unit was at their absolute best and they were able to post an above-par score of 356 runs after England skipper Heather Knight won the toss and decided to bowl first.
On the other hand, England were skittled out for 285 runs after Natalie Sciver scored an unbeaten knock of 148 runs. However, she didn’t get the support from her teammates as none of them could even go past the 30-run mark.
Jess Jonassen and Alana King scalped three wickets apiece for Australia whereas Megan Schutt bagged a brace.
Alyssa Healy was awarded the Player of the Match for her masterpiece knock in the final. The right-hander was also adjudged the Player of the Tournament for top-scoring 509 runs in nine matches at an average of 56.56 and a strike rate of 103.67.
Alyssa Healy said in the post-match presentation, “I’m 32 and I’ve seen it all. Our team sets out to win events like these and everyone is sort of keen to get out there and do just that, grateful for the opportunity. You probably couldn’t have asked for anything more. Proud of the batting unit. We have done some amazing things this whole tournament, so to be able to do it one more time on the biggest stage was impressive. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever thought I’d do something like that so it is pretty cool. We knew the first 10 overs was going to be the most challenging part of the game and we got two world class bowlers swinging the ball. We just knew we had to hold our nerve. I enjoy batting with Rach and it’s what we set out to do and we ticked that box.”
She added, “Not quite yet (sunk in). First of all it was a special game of cricket. Very high-scoring but that was pretty special from our group. Something we have been working towards for a long period of time, everyone’s been talking about it, so to finally get over the line was pretty cool. The job was halfway done. We knew their line-up and they were peaking at the right time and you never know what’s going to happen. It was a very professional chat during the innings break. Credit to the bowlers, they held their nerves, Sciver played a special innings and could have gotten them over the line. Pretty tired towards the end, never batted for that long, it was nice to get out there and put a total on the board. Proud of the batting group. Everyone has worked really hard for this and it has been a long five year wait. Full credit to the girls and we will sit back and analyse what an amazing three months it has been.”
