In her farewell series, Alyssa Healy has been consciously avoiding all talks of her retirement, legacy, and what it all means in the big picture. So when asked at the toss on Sunday if she has taken time to let it sink in that she will be wearing Australia’s green and gold for the last time, Healy responded: “We have got a lovely debutant today. So let’s make it more about her, for a nice little peek into the future.” But at the end of the day in Hobart, it was indeed all about Alyssa.
AS IT HAPPENED |
The Australian captain, who has been a thorn in India’s flesh many a time over her decorated career, struck a sensational 98-ball 158 to power Australia to 409/7. In response, India’s run-chase effectively ended by 24 overs as they were reduced to 135/7, before dragging the match along to an inevitable conclusion to lose by a whopping 185-run margin. The rest of the contest was largely reduced to a formality, so much so that Healy actually got to bowl two overs – the first time ever she has rolled her arm over in international cricket (she didn’t take the gloves in this series). And it prompted funny statistics on the broadcast of which Mitchell Starc, her husband and star Australian pacer, was a part of: distance run in to bowl in their respective international careers – Starc 702 kms, Healy 40 m.
Healy’s knock was an illustration of the good old sporting cliche. ‘Retire when people would ask why now and not when they ask why not’. The knock not only felt like a collection of her best hits, but also showed she still had the endurance and power to compete at the highest level, batting the way she has been over the years as an opener after being given that role post the 2017 World Cup. It was almost a chanceless knock; when she was on 9, she mishit a short-arm jab, but it was short of the fielder at midwicket, and on the one occasion she was beaten by an inswinger by Renuka Singh Thakur, Umpire’s Call of not out on the field saved her on review.
Another notable stat at the end of Healy’s sensational knock was that she finishes her ODI career with a strike rate of 100.69 – to do so having the format played since 2010, for a majority of which scoring rate wasn’t as high as it is in the women’s game now. She started her innings by constantly staying at run-a-ball, targeting the square regions on either side of the wicket with her cuts and pulls. She took 49 balls for the first 50 of the day. Then came the first phase of acceleration as her next 50 runs took just 30 balls, getting to the landmark with one of the many fours through the leg side.
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Just before the landmark, she had started cramping… but she wasn’t done yet. With renewed vigour and presumably some pickle juice in her system, she teed off. In a stunning shift of gears, she raced to her next 50 runs off just 16 balls. Bearing the brunt of it was Sree Charani, who went for 23 runs in the 32nd over. Driving over cover and point. Cutting behind square. Slogging over long on. Slicing over point. It was a brutal takedown of a young spinner who had actually earned the respect of the Australian captain at the World Cup recently for how well she bowled against them in both matches.
It must sting India that their first series as World Champions of the format came to such an underwhelming conclusion. But, for Healy, the farewell to an epic white-ball career couldn’t have gone much better. “I just think what a ridiculous sport we play that it can kick you down so many times and then give you opportunities like it has today. I’ve hated every milestone match (previously in her career) so today was just sort of an opportunity to go out and enjoy it, and it was one of the more enjoyable experiences I’ve had. So thanks to the cricket gods for that, and that’s a nice way to sign off in the yellow,” Healy said after finishing with the second-highest ODI score of her career. Ridiculous sport, and the end of a ridiculous career.
Brief scores: Australia 409/7 (Alyssa Healy 158, Beth Mooney 106*, Sneh Rana 2/66) beat India 224 all out in 45.1 overs (Sneh Rana 44, Alana King 4/33) by 185 runs.
