Chasing a world record target of 331, Australia needed 126 off 108 balls at the required rate of exactly 7 runs an over. At that point, with 9 overs left between her three main spinners, Harmanpreet Kaur needed to figure out how to find nine overs from pacers Amanjot Kaur and Kranti Gaud, with herself as the sixth bowling option.
The win predictor was 53 percent in India’s favour then after they had managed to remove Beth Mooney and Annabel Sutherland in quick succession.
The Indian captain decided to roll the dice. Over No.33 went to Kranti, and the next one to Amanjot. Alyssa Healy immediately knew what to do. She went after the pacers, hitting a boundary in each of their overs, which went for a combined 22 runs.
It is what the Australian captain did masterfully all night during her stunning innings of 142 off 107 balls, that resulted in a three-wicket win that took Australia to the top of the points table. Healy’s knock was replete with timely boundaries, pressure-releasing shots, and constant rotation of strike. She targeted the pacers, played out Sree Charani – India’s best bowler on the night – cautiously, and when the bad balls were presented by the other two spinners, with a favourable match-up, pulled out the slog-sweep.
At the innings break, stats made it seem like India were ahead. The total of 330 was India’s highest in women’s ODI World Cup history. It was also the most runs Australia have conceded in Women’s ODI World Cups. The highest-ever successful run-chase in women’s ODIs was a target of 302 overhauled by Sri Lanka against South Africa last April. Despite all those numbers against them, Australia would have fancied their chances, because of the quality of batting resources they possess.
Early in the innings, Kranti kept Phoebe Litchfield tied down, bowling a maiden in the fourth over. But Healy was quick to realise that she could put Amanjot under pressure from the other end, pouncing on a short ball to smash a pull through square leg and then uppishly driving one down the ground for another boundary.
Then in the eighth over, she went after Kranti. On the first ball, she smashed a six over long-off. The next two balls went screaming through the leg side for fours. It would turn out to be a 19-run over and Australia were off to a flier.
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It was an early headache for Harmanpreet as India continued to stick with just five frontline bowling options. The first spells read 4-1-33-0 from Kranti and 3-0-19-0 from Amanjot, the seamers leaking 52 runs in seven overs.
Just as she had responded to a maiden over from Kranti to Litchfield earlier, Healy would repeat the dose after a maiden over from Charani to Ellyse Perry. After a streak of eight dot balls, the Aussie skipper responded by hitting two fours in Deepti Sharma’s over.
Limited options
Shortly after Perry retired hurt with cramps – only to return towards the end and smash the winning runs when Australia were under a bit of pressure – Mooney walked into the middle. With desperation setting in perhaps about the lack of bowling options, Harmanpreet brought herself on, hoping to use her angle against the left-hander, but Healy took strike and smashed two fours in the only over that the Indian captain would bowl.
It perfectly summed up the form Healy was in. It didn’t help Harmanpreet that she was taking down India’s better bowlers too. In the 38th over, Sneh Rana was swept over square leg for six and then in front of square for a four.
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The looks on the faces of Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana said it all – it was the sort of innings that Harmanpreet played against Australia in 2017 that made Meg Lanning feel helpless.
The innings actually came at a point when Healy had been struggling for runs in the tournament. But before the match, she insisted that batting aggressively at the top was still important.
The looks on the faces of Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana said it all – it was the sort of innings that Harmanpreet played against Australia in 2017 that made Meg Lanning feel helpless. (PTI Photo)
“If you had seen me in the nets, it’s been a frustrating experience; you’d have known I had been struggling to find my rhythm and didn’t really know where it went,” she said in the press conference later. “But once you step out on the field, your competitive instincts kick in.
“Obviously, Kranti got me three times in the bilateral series so it was an opportunity to go out there and lock into the contest there.”
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The Australian captain added that after eight or nine overs of India’s innings, she thought to herself, ‘what have I done’, and admitted that it was “pretty crazy” to say that it was a great effort by the bowlers to restrict India to 330.
Even for Australia’s all-conquering side, this was a new peak. “To chase down 330 in a 50-over game for us is new territory, so I’m glad that we’ve got the confidence to do that now.”
Brief scores: India 330 all out in 48.5 overs (Smriti Mandhana 80, Pratika Rawal 75; Annabel Sutherland 5/40, Sophie Molineux 3/75) lost to Australia 331/7 in 49 overs (Alyssa Healy 142, Ellyse Perry 47 not out; Shree Charani 3/41) by three wickets.
