You could not wipe the smile off Alyssa Healy’s face as she humbly labelled Australia’s 71-run Women’s ODI World Cup win over England “just a good game of cricket”.
After a historic knock of 170 off 138 balls – the highest-ever individual score in an ODI World Cup final – to set up Australia’s total of 5-356, Healy was awestruck and even a little worn out by the final result.
“It was nice to get there and put a good total on the board,” Healy said on the Fox Cricket broadcast after the match.
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“I was a little bit tired. I don’t know if you could tell. I haven’t batted that long in forever.”
Healy was named player of the match and the 32-year-old backed it up with player of the tournament, after leading the scoring with 509 runs over nine games.
Burying the disappointment of Australia’s shock semi-final exit in 2017, Healy was overjoyed with how her teammates performed to remain undefeated throughout the tournament.
“That was pretty special from our group, something that we’ve been working towards for a long period of time… to finally get over the line was pretty cool,” Healy said.
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“I’m proud of the batting group. I’ve been proud of them this whole trip, so it was nice to finish off well.
“Everyone’s worked really, really hard for this and it’s been a long five-year wait to come here and try to win a title that people kept saying we should have had.
“So full credit to the girls. I think we’ll just sit back and reflect on what’s been an amazing three months on the road. We’ve done some amazing things.”
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Australian captain Meg Lanning described Healy’s accomplishment with the bat as “incredible”.
“To do it in a World Cup final… I’m probably not surprised to be fair because she’s done it before,” Lanning said.
“Some of the shots she was playing were ridiculous. Just to put the bowlers under pressure at the back end was important and I think she set the base really nicely (for the rest of the batting group).”
England captain Heather Knight pointed to just how difficult Healy’s phenomenal innings had made the run chase.
“Alyssa, that was a remarkable innings and not really a pleasure to watch, but I think it’s one of the best innings I’ve seen live.”
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