The Aussies played the perfect game on the 8th of March to beat India by 85 runs in the World T20 Final. Openers Alyssa Healy (75 off 39 balls) and Beth Mooney (78 not out off 54 balls) drove the home side to 4/184 before the bowlers did the job to bowl India out for just 99.
A night before the most important final, opener Alyssa Healy explained on The Howie Games podcast how she all but forgot about the crucial match as she went for dinner.
Was great to finally get the call up!! Thanks for the chat @MarkHoward03!! https://t.co/vKl274AmhV
— Alyssa Healy (@ahealy77) March 26, 2020
“We met this rowdy bunch of Long Reef (Golf Club) women who have already had a thousand-and-one beer,” Healy recalled. “We went in there and lo and behold, I’ve had three beers. I’m like ‘oh my gosh, I need to leave right now’ She then talked about an impromptu scooter race she indulged in that blessed night.
“Here I am in the middle of Melbourne CBD at about 8 pm on a kid’s scooter, racing one of them down the street,” she recalled fondly. Looks like the beer and the scooter ride worked their magic as Healy smashed the fastest half-century in any World Cup decider – men’s or women’s – to finish with 75 off 39 balls in one of the finest performances by an Australian in a major final.
The relaxed nature of her preparation reflected a team mentality that Healy believes gave the hosts an advantage over their Indian counterparts. World record attendance at the MCG for any women’s sporting event ever had got on the nerves of India’s players. Nevertheless, Australia retained its calm and went with cool heads to the final.
“I think we embraced that day so much more than India did,” the 30-year-old said. “Not one of us was nervous. We were just calm and saw it such a great opportunity to play in front of this many people.” Alyssa also revealed a quirky moment at the start of the day. All consumed by Katy Perry’s mesmerizing rendition of her top hits, Roar, and others; she almost forgot to pad up. If not for a light shoulder nudge by her teammate Ellyse Perry, the relaxed Alyssa would have been in trouble.
“I was standing there alongside a few of my teammates watching Katy Perry sing ‘Roar’ and Pez turns to me and says ‘do you not need to go and pad up? You’re about to open the batting for Australia,’” said Healy.
“It was probably quarter to seven and I was still in my training kit singing along to Katy Perry.” Begin the match and Alyssa went all guns blazing. She hit her first ball for four and continued to strike the ball at a rate of 192.3 in the final to finish with 75 and a well deserved Player of the Match award. About the experience post the World Cup win, Healy says, “the last two weeks of my life right now, literally 10-15 people every day stop me and say ‘congratulations on your win, great knock in the final’.
Just people walking down the street who have seen it and watched it. It’s an experience that has been really cool.” The atmosphere is no doubt completely different from the time Australia won the title way back in the West Indies in 2010. There was a stark dearth of acknowledgment. This time, after a record attendance at the MCG and a post-match party with Katy Perry amidst a sea of crazy crowd, the winning dust won’t settle early.
