Alyssa Healy’s performance in the Women’s Cricket World Cup on Sunday was one of dreams.
Her incredible 170 runs in the one-day international tournament final propelled the Australian Women’s Cricket Team to a remarkable World Cup victory, scoring 5/356 from 50 overs.
Healy’s innings broke records, as the largest individual score in a World Cup final, across the men’s and women’s game, and the most runs ever scored in a Women’s World Cup tournament. At 170 runs, Healy overtook Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist, who scored 149 runs in the men’s 2007 World Cup final.
Healy had two great partnerships with Rachael Haynes, who scored 68 off 93 balls and Beth Mooney who scored 62 off 47 balls.
Healy also hit 26 boundaries on the way to achieving 170 runs, the most boundaries scored by any player in any Women’s World Cup innings.
The Australian Women’s Cricket Team, captained by Meg Lanning, won all of their nine games in the tournament, becoming World Cup champions for the seventh time.
Healy was named player of the final and player of the tournament.
“That was a special game of cricket,” Healy said. “And that was pretty special from our group.”
“Everyone’s been talking about it for a long period of time, so to finally get over the line was pretty cool.”
Before the World Cup tournament, Healy told Women’s Agenda that compared to 2017 – the last time Australia competed in a ODI World Cup tournament – she feels like a “different person”.
“I feel like a different person, a different cricketer and just a more comfortable human being which I think translates to more relaxed cricket,” she said.
She also said the one-day tournament format was challenging, and it would mean a lot for Australia to come out on top because it’s a marker of who is the best team in the world.
“It’s about being really adaptable and making sure that you’re turning up and performing every opportunity you get. If you have a poor performance, you need to just wipe it clear from your mind and turn up the next day,” she said.
“It’s true test, you’ve got to beat everyone to get to the final. I love that style and it is the true number one team in the world that holds the trophy at the end of it.”