Over the last month, there was some riveting cricket witnessed, thanks to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup that was played in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3. Just like most of the matches in the World Cup, the final game that was played between Australia and England on Sunday did not fail to garner attention.
More than 640 runs were scored in the grand finale, courtesy of some power-packed batting that was displayed by both Australia and England. Australia successfully defended 356 against England to win their seventh World Cup title. The sculptor of this scintillating win for Australia was none other than their right-handed swashbuckling opening batter Alyssa Healy.
The 32-year old plundered a blistering 170 off 138 balls to power Australia to a formidable score of 356. Her innings were embellished with 26 boundaries and throughout her stay at the crease, she toyed with the English bowling attack. In the process, she shattered many records. She became the first player to register more than 150 runs in a World Cup final across men’s and women’s cricket. She also became the first player in the history of the Women’s Cricket World Cup to record centuries in the semi-final and final of the same edition of the tournament. In addition to these, she also became the highest scorer in an innings in this World Cup. With so many records being broken with that one inning, Healy deservedly bagged the player of the match.
After Alyssa Healy, it was Natalie Sciver who made it to the Top 3 of this elite list 😍🙌#CWC22 #TeamAustralia #TeamEngland pic.twitter.com/HLCbzYmv4V
— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket) April 3, 2022
Healy did not just stop after receiving the player of the match for the finals. She also clinched the player of the tournament. Riding on two centuries and as many half-centuries, the devastating batter muscled 509 runs in 9 matches at an average of 56.56 and a stellar strike rate of 103.67. In the World Cup, she hammered 69 boundaries, which was the highest among all players. Before the semi-finals, she had just 210 runs. However as she entered the knockouts, she simply fired on all cylinders. She mustered 129 runs off 107 balls in the semi-final against West Indies and 170 runs off 138 balls in the final against England. In total, she scored 299 runs in the two games compared to just 210 runs in the seven matches of the league stage.
Seize the moment!
Meg’s 1st ODI World Cup Win as a Captain 😍🏆#CWC22 #TeamAustralia pic.twitter.com/OTSd9H3PHC
— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket) April 3, 2022
These statistics clearly reveal that Healy is a big match player and she thrives when there is a pressure of the knockouts.
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