Australia’s women’s cricket team has made a record-breaking chase down, overcoming India 331/7 to 330 in the One-Day International (ODI) at Visakhapatnam, led by captain Alyssa Healy.
India started strong, batting 330 all out. Top-scoring Smriti Mandhana claimed 80 from 66 balls, while Australia’s bowler Annabel Sutherland claimed her first ODI five-wicket haul.
Forced to chase down a record, Australia’s opening batter, Healy, was the star, making 142 runs from 107 balls, claiming her sixth ODI century of her career.
When crunch time arrived, teammate Ellyse Perry re-emerged – having retired earlier due to a leg cramp – to hit the winning ball, a straight-driven six from Sneh Rana, taking Australia to 331/7 with six balls remaining.
“Great result. To chase down 330 in 50-overs game is new territory for us. Hopefully, don’t have to do it again,” Healy said.
“Really proud of the group. It got a little bit tight, but we have been preaching about the depth in our line-up, and the fact we could chase this proved it.”
Healy believed Sutherland’s powerful wicket haul was key to stumping India’s formidable charge.
“Eight overs in, I was like, ‘what have I done?'” Healy said. “I thought we were going to be chasing 38 at one point, but the bowlers pulled it back.”
The victory saw Australia reclaim the number one spot in the World Cup standings, overtaking England.
Photo: by Tony Hisgett found HERE and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license. The image has not been modified.
