Women’s World Cup 2022: Unbeaten Australia hammer England to lift 7th trophy after Alyssa Healy’s heroics
NEW DELHI,APRIL 3 : Australia dethroned England to win their 7th Women’s World Cup title, hammering the defending champions by 71 runs in the final of the 2022 edition at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Sunday, April 3. Australia won the World Cup without losing a single game, establishing their dominance over the rest of the pack in New Zealand.
Australia posted a record 356 on the board, riding on Alyssa Healy’s stunning 170. In reply, Nat Sciver waged a lone battle and remained unbeaten on 148 but it was not enough as England were bowled out for 285 in 43.4 overs.
It’s been a stunning revival for Australia who were undone by a Harmanpreet Kaur storm in the semi-final of the 2017 World Cup. Since then, Meg Lanning’s side have lost only 2 matches out of 42 as their extended their record as the most successful side in the history of the Women’s World Cup.
England did well to make the final after losing their first 3 matches at the Women’s World Cup 2022 but the gulf in class was evident on Sunday with Australia breaking a spree of records as they posted a record score of 357/5 on the board in their quota of 50 overs.
In a surprising call that resembled former India captain Sourav Ganguly’s decision to win the toss and opt to bowl in the 2003 men’s World Cup final, England skipper Heather Knight won the toss and put Australia into bat.
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The women in yellow relished the opportunity to bat first on a good pitch at the Hagley Oval as Alyssa Healy hit a stunning 170, the highest score by a batter in the final of a World Cup (men or women). Healy, cheered on by her husband Mitchell Starc from the stands, hit 26 boundaries as she got to 170 in just 138 balls.
Healy had deflated the England bowling attack, stitching a 160-run opening stand with Rachael Haynes. The wicketkeeper-batter also set the record for most runs by a batter in a single edition of the Women’s World Cup — 509 runs, 12 more than her opening partner.
Healy also became the first baiter in the history of the game to hit a hundred in the semi-final and the final of World Cup.
Australia’s power-hitting charge was perfectly calculated as they took the England attack to the cleaners in the last 20 overs of their innings. Following Haynes’ exit in the 30th over, Australia added 196 runs to their total, batting England out of the contest.
Beth Mooney chipped in with a crucial 62 while the likes of Ellyse Perry (10-ball 17 not out) and captain Lanning (5-ball 10) to make sure Australia posted 356.
For England, 4-time champions, Nat Sciver waged a stunning lone battle, remaining unbeaten on 148 in just 121 balls.
Even as wickets were tumbling at the other end, Nat Sciver held her own and kept moving the scoreboard. A fitly partnership with Sophia Dunkley for the 5th wicket kept England hopes alive but Alana King (62/3) and Jess Jonassen (3/57), the two Australian spinners, spun a web around the England middle-order.
Sciver stitched a 65-run stand for the 9th wicket with Charlotte Dean (21) but Ash Gardner snapped the stand to jolt England. Sciver was fighting hard but Australia wrapped it up with Jonassen got the final wicket – Anya Shrubsole in the 44th over.
Australia 356/5 in 50 overs (Alyssa Healy 170, Rachael Haynes 68; Anya Shrubsole 3/46) beat England 285-all out in 43.4 overs (Nat Sciver 148*, Jess Jonassen 3/57, Alana King 3/62) by 71 runs.
-The India Today
