Christchurch, April 3 : Alyssa Healy’s monumental knock of 170 off 138 balls powered Australia to an imposing total of 356/5 against England in the ICC Women’s World Cup final at Hagley Oval on Sunday. Openers Healy and Rachael Haynes started off cautiously, weathering out the powerplay after being put in to bat. After the completion of first 10 overs, the duo came out all guns blazing against the defending champions. Healy, who smashed 26 fours, started attacking as soon as Charlie Dean was handed the ball. The right-hander then came down the track to punish the England bowlers with her cut, drive, scoop and pull shots. Haynes, on the other hand, was once again steady. Haynes went onto break the long-standing record of New Zealand great Debbie Hockley (456 runs at the 1997 World Cup) by scoring the most runs ever in a World Cup. Soon out of nowhere, Healy (509) overtook Haynes (497).
Both Healy and Haynes piled on England’s misery, stitching 160 runs together. In the 30th over, England finally found their first success as Haynes (68), who looked to go over the off side ended up mistiming it off the bowling of Sophie Ecclestone. Australia changed their line-up according to the match situation and sent in left-hander Beth Mooney ahead of skipper Meg Lanning at No.3. The plan paid dividends as Healy and Mooney, both who open innings in T20Is, added 156 runs for the third wicket, taking Australia past the 300-run mark. England finally got rid of Healy as wicket-keeper Amy Jones pulled off a stunning stumping off the bowling of Anya Shrubsole, the hero of the 2017 final.
Australia continued with their change of plans and sent power-hitter Ashleigh Gardner. However, this time it didn’t work as Garner was run out for 1. Shrubsole picked two wickets in two balls – Lanning (10) and Mooney (62) – but missed out on completing a hat-trick. Towards the end, Tahlia McGrath and Ellyse Perry slapped three boundaries to take Australia past the 350-run mark.
