Australia W Dominated England W To Clinch 7th World Cup Title With Healy’s Record-Breaking 170
Australia’s triumphant victory in the World Cup final against England showcased Alyssa Healy’s remarkable 170 runs off 138 balls, setting a new standard in cricket history.
Despite England’s Nat Sciver’s unbeaten 148, Australia’s dominant performance secured a 71-run win, marking their seventh World Cup triumph.
England Women 285 (Sciver 148*, Jonassen 3-58, King 3-64) lost to Australia Women 356 for 5 (Healy 170, Haynes 68, Mooney 62) by a margin of 71 runs.
After an innings of brilliance from Alyssa Healy, Australia had taken control of the World Cup. Nat Sciver did her utmost to hold onto it, but in the end, Australia tore it away from the reigning champions, England, with a 71-run win in the Christchurch final.
Healy’s incredible 170 off 138 balls completed the unbeaten Australians’ supremacy in this event, setting England a daunting 357 to chase. Sciver refused to give up with a beautiful century, but it proved to be too much for a team that had shown a lot of resilience to overcome a three-match losing skid at the beginning that had put their dreams of even making it to the knockout stages in risk.
Following their elimination against India in the 2017 semi-finals, Australia had been chasing their seventh ODI title for five years. This outcome put a stop to their quest.
As she maneuvered around England’s bowlers to reach her career-high score and shatter records with equal ease, Healy had danced all over the field and along her crease.
She beat Adam Gilchrist’s 2007 World Cup final total of 149 against Sri Lanka, becoming the highest individual scorer of the tournament and finishing just one run behind him with 148 not out.
Healy ended with 509 runs, while Haynes finished with 497 following her 68 today, breaking New Zealander Debbie Hockley’s 1997 record of 456 runs scored in a single Women’s World Cup. Following Beth Mooney’s explosive 62, England had to accomplish a run chase for the world record in the women’s ODIs.
However, it was a good batting surface, and when the teams faced off in the group round, they came very close to chasing down 311. After losing both openers, Danni Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont, to Megan Schutt within the first seven overs, England turned to Sciver, who was the team’s standout in that match as well. Then, after Sciver had overturned Heather Knight’s leg, the captain was dismissed after two balls by Alana King, leg before wicket.
Sciver did exactly that by hitting the ball well and using her feet to open gaps. She got her 148 from just 121 balls, which included 15 fours—the only six in a match that saw 76 boundaries scored overall. She managed to keep the needed run-rate within reach for a considerable amount of time, but the early wicket losses proved to be expensive.
On 10, Meg Lanning had an opportunity to take out Sophia Dunkley, but she was unable to hold onto what would have been a blinder after jumping high to her right at cover and getting a hand on it. Before Dunkley was bowled around her legs by King for the second time in as many meetings, she put up fifty runs with Sciver for the fifth wicket.
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Katherine Brunt was dismissed by Healy after King had her dismissed, and Jess Jonassen made another breathtaking return catch, which was just somewhat less impressive than her quick stop to remove Brunt in their group match. This time, the left-armer dug deep to her right to dismiss Kate Cross, leaving England 213 for 8 in the 34th over.
King was left wondering how Sciver managed to stay upright on the penultimate ball of her allocation, when the latter sent a bottom edge so thin that it nearly brushed leg stump. Sciver and Charlie Dean, meanwhile, held strong with a 65-run partnership for the ninth wicket. After Dean was out for a self-assured 21 by Jonassen, Anya Shrubsole’s experience took over.
But there would be no late comebacks, and as Shrubsole skied Jonassen to Ashleigh Gardner, sprinting back from mid-off, she could hardly contain her tears just as Gardner exclaimed in victory. Earlier, after winning the toss and sending the opposition in, England battled with their lengths, fielding, and tactics as Healy and Haynes put on a 160-run partnership, the biggest partnership for any wicket in a Women’s World Cup final.
when five overs, veteran seamers Brunt and Shrubsole restricted Australia to 14 for 0. However, the openers showed patience, and when Brunt delivered a pair of short balls in the seventh over, Haynes removed both behind square leg, resulting in Australia being 37 for 0 at the end of the power play.
Haynes and Healy increased the pace and pressure on England when the bowling changes occurred. They relentlessly attacked rookie offspinner Dean, causing her to throw just four overs and give up 34 runs.
Australia were suddenly 68 for 0 after 15 overs, and England turned to Sophie Ecclestone and Cross, who had been devastating with six wickets in their semi-final match against South Africa.
But in the next over, Cross had two easy opportunities dismissed, a recurrence of the bad fielding that plagued England early in the group round. At backward point, Wyatt first dismissed Haynes, who was 47 at the time, diving to her left. Sciver then let Healy, who was 41 at the time, have a chance at midwicket.
Healy quickly put Australia ahead when she hit back-to-back fours in Cross’s following over. She also reached her half-century by bludgeoning a short ball over midwicket and edging past the keeper.
The breakthrough came for England only when Ecclestone came back, when Haynes skied the opening ball of the thirtyth over to Beaumont at backward point.
That didn’t really matter because Mooney, who was moved up to the No. 3 spot, started scoring runs at a rate faster than one run per ball, and Healy kept up her dominance. Raising her century to guide Shrubsole for a single to deep point, she exclaimed “yes!” for the run and then again for the ton as the batters crossed the plate. She then embraced Mooney and grinned contentedly as she acknowledged the cheers of the raucous Hagley Oval audience.
Healy became the third player in history to hit two hundred in the knockout stages of an ODI World Cup, after Ricky Ponting and Mahela Jayawardene. Healy also struck 129 in an overwhelming victory against the West Indies in the semi-finals.
She and Mooney extended their partnership to 100 runs in just 81 balls, and they further inflicted misery on England by allowing Ecclestone and Sciver to add 52 runs in three overs.
Australia put in big-hitting Gardner after Healy was ultimately stumped while chasing a Shrubsole delivery outside off, but Gardner was run out three balls later. Beaumont removed Lanning for just 10 runs with a brilliant catch backpedaling from short third man, and Mooney holed out to Sciver at deep midwicket, giving Shrubsole two wickets in two balls.
