On Sunday, during the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup final that was played between Australia and England at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch, Australia’s right-handed opening batter Alyssa Healy shattered the world record for scoring the highest runs in a World Cup final innings.
The 32-year old swashbuckling batter plundered a blistering 170 off 138 balls to power Australia to a daunting total of 5-356 in 50 overs against England. Picking up from where she had left in the semi-final against the West Indies, Healy thrashed the English bowling attack, as she tore them apart with 26 boundaries. She stitched a couple of 150+ partnerships in the process with her opening partner Rachael Haynes and number three batter Beth Mooney. Healy’s 170 is also the highest score in this edition of the Women’s Cricket World Cup as well as the second-highest score by an Australian in a Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Alyssa Healy surpasses Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting ❤️
— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket)
With back-to-back centuries, Healy became the only player in the history of women’s cricket to register a century in the semi-final and final of the World Cup. She also went past 500 runs to become the only player in the Women’s Cricket World Cup to muster that many runs in a single edition of the tournament.
Alyssa Healy 🤝 Kumar Sangakkara
— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket)
Apart from these, Healy went past her countrymates, Adam Gilchrist and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting to score the most number of runs in a World Cup final. To date, Healy’s 170 is the highest score in a World Cup final innings. None of the players across men’s and women’s cricket have gone past the 150-run mark in a World Cup final. Gilchrist had the previous best of 149 against Sri Lanka in the 2007 finals that was played in West Indies, which Australia went on to win comfortably by 53 runs. Gilchrist hammered 13 boundaries and eight sixes during his entertaining innings. Ponting, on the other hand, mustered an undefeated 140 against India to steer Australia to a 125-run win in the 2003 World Cup finals in South Africa. The former Australia captain smashed four boundaries and eight sixes during his enthralling knock.
Can Healy’s innings guide Australia to their seventh World Cup title just like Gilchrist and Ponting helped Australia to clinch the championships? Stay tuned to find out.
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