Alyssa Healy led the way in Australia chasing down 331 against India and breaking the record for the highest succesfull run chase in women’s ODIs in a thrilling Women’s World Cup between the two sides in Visakhapatnam. The Australia captain, however, admitted that she was questioning her decision to bowl first at the toss when Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal were going big guns in the first 10 overs.
“I think about eight overs in, I said, oh God, what have I done? I thought we were chasing 380 at one point,” quipped Healy after the match. “We knew it was going to be a good wicket. The dew didn’t look like it came in at all, but it still skidded on under lights, which we knew we could do. We just played down the ground and we did just that and hopefully, luckily got the job done.”
Mandhana had taken Sophie Molineux to the cleaners in the eighth over, hitting a four off the first ball, a six off the third and then another four off the last ball. She later brought up her half-century in 45 balls as she and Rawal put up an opening stand of 155 runs in 24.2 overs. It was Molineux herself who dismissed Mandhana.
After that, though, the only partnership of note for India was 54 off 34 balls for the fifth wicket between Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh and India were all out for 330. Healy praised her side for having pulled back the Indian innings.
“Full credit to our bowlers as well for pulling that back in at the back end. I think we could have been chasing 360 plus, so good job all around and we’ll take the two points,” she said.
‘Was trying to lock in for a big day’
While she may praise her teammates, the fact remains that it was Healy’s performance that became the heart of Australia’s record chase. She paced her innings perfectly and almost effortlessly cruised to 142 in 107 balls. Her 85-run opening stand with Phoebe Litchfield and then a steady 69-run stand with Ellyse Perry pretty much set the game up for Australia. Perry retired hurt during the partnership but later came on to finish just when India were knocking off one too many wickets towards the end for Australia’s comfort.
“Obviously proud personally to be able to do that. I was trying to lock in for a big day. I know there was a bit of pressure on my top order, but to be out there and contribute heavily was great. Would have liked to be out there a little bit longer and sort of see it home, but the girls got the job done, which is good,” said Healy.
