Day: March 30, 2022

Dubai, March 30, 2022 (PPI-OT):Australia earned their place in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 final with a comprehensive 157-run victory over the West Indies in a rain-reduced game.

Meg Lanning’s side were at their destructive best with the bat, Alyssa Healy making 129 as she and Rachael Haynes put on 216 for the first wicket, to set up a mammoth total of 305 for three from 45 overs.

The West Indies never looked like getting close in their chase, captain Stafanie Taylor was her side’s top-scorer with 48 as the West Indies could only manage a total of 148.

Play got underway one hour and 45 minutes late as thick mist and drizzle started to give way to sunshine with the match reduced to 45 overs.

Having been put in to bat, Australia were undeterred by the West Indies’ fast bowlers running in on a green wicket in gloomy Wellington as they made 37 from the nine-over powerplay.

Healy took her time getting going, she made just 10 from 25 balls through the first ten overs but then picked up the pace to bring up her fifty from 63 balls.

Her second fifty would come off just 28 balls as she achieved a maiden World Cup hundred as she and Haynes earned their 200-partnership within 32 overs.

Healy eventually departed for 129 from 107 balls, including 17 fours and one six, as the West Indies held on to their first catch of the day, substitute Shakera Selman, on for the injured Anisa Mohammed, diving in.

A mini fightback ensued as Chinelle Henry took two wickets in an over, Haynes going first for 85 from 100 balls before Ashleigh Gardner’s promotion from seventh to third ended after 12 runs as the West Indies dragged Australia back to 235 for three.

Lanning and Beth Mooney were there to steady the ship however, the two batters with the highest averages in the tournament, taking Australia to 305 for three from their 45 overs, the largest-ever score in a World Cup knockout game.

In reply, the West Indies made a steady start once again led by Deandra Dottin but soon lost their first wicket as Rashada Williams went for a 10-ball duck, Mooney holding on to a stunning grab off the bowling of Megan Schutt.

Annabel Sutherland did what the Windies could not, safely holding on to a looping catch at long-on to dismiss Dottin for 34 from 35 balls as she had just started finding the boundary regularly.

Hayley Matthews fell for the same score, this time from 49 balls, as Jess Jonassen took the first wicket from spin for the day with her fourth ball, Alana King holding on to a poorly-timed shot at mid-off.

Matthews’s wicket did not spark the West Indies into life as they slipped to 91 for three in 22.4 overs, Taylor joined by Shemaine Campbelle as the required run-rate climbed above 10 an over.

Sutherland chipped in with a wicket as Campbelle sent a delivery straight to Jonassen to depart for eight from 22 balls.

Chedean Nation came out with intent cracking a six from her first ball but could add only more before being run out by Healy.

Kycia Knight followed for a two-ball duck as Jonassen moved to 10 wickets for the tournament and reduced the West Indies to 126 for six.

Gardner then looked to catch Jonassen up getting her ninth of the World Cup to dismiss Ramharack LBW a ball after she was dropped by Sutherland.

Taylor eventually departed for 48 from 74, with four fours, and with it the West Indies innings and run in the World Cup came to an end as the injured Mohammed and ill Henry did not take to the field.

It gave Australia a 157-run win as they advance to their seventh World Cup final, while the West Indies search for a first Women’s ODI World Cup title goes on.

Scores in brief

Australia beat West Indies at Basin Reserve, Wellington by 157 runs

Australia 305 for three in 45 overs (Alyssa Healy 129, Rachael Haynes 85; Chinelle Henry 2/51, Shamilia Connell 1/46)

West Indies 148 all out in 37 overs (Stafanie Taylor 48, Deandra Dottin 34, Hayley Matthews 34; Jess Jonassen 2/14, Megan Schutt 1/8)

Player of the Match: Alyssa Healy (Australia)

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

Dubai, March 30, 2022 (PPI-OT):Alyssa Healy has the nickname Midge due to being short in stature but make no mistake, she is a big-game player.

And she proved that yet again with a knock of 129 against the West Indies to power Australia into the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 final.

Australia have been utterly dominant throughout this tournament, but it has often been without Healy’s help.

Twice Healy has made 72 in the tournament, against Pakistan and India, but had added only 66 runs from the five other group games.

In the semi-final she vanquished any demons she may have had to make her first World Cup century and spearhead a comprehensive 157-run victory.

And it was a different kind innings from the ones Healy has made us accustomed to seeing from her – when she made 75 off just 39 balls in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final in 2020 she started with a four off her first all and earned two more in the same over.

That was an innings right out of the Healy playbook, in comparison in Wellington she was practically pedestrian at the start.

Against the West Indies, she went the entire nine-over powerplay without a boundary, but it showed that not only has her position in the batting risen, so has her ability to time an innings.

During the innings break, she said: “I’d hope I’d learned my lesson by now that it doesn’t always have to happen at once! But I like batting with Rach [Haynes], she’s a calming influence.

“We knew that if we just invested a bit of time, we’d be able to cash in and we did just that.”

‘Did just that’ is perhaps a fair description of what Healy and Rachael Haynes did, their run-making simple and unflustered.

Their hundred-partnership arrived bang on the 20-over mark, the 200 came up only 11.1 overs later.

The dynamic duo traded singles as they edged towards their fifties, Haynes’ coming first off 66 balls, Healy’s brought up one of her own four balls later from 63 deliveries.

Haynes was then dropped twice in the space of two Karishma Ramharack overs, and while it may have steadied her scoring, it seemed to light a fuse in Healy.

She cracked a six off Ramharack’s next over and six deliveries later reached her hundred.

In the deliveries leading up to her maiden World Cup ton, Healy was as patient as she was when sitting on 11 from 29 balls.

Her restraint paid off as she pushed a single through the off-side to bring up her century, she waved her bat in appreciation to the Basin Reserve crowd before it was back to business.

Healy was eventually the first wicket to fall, substitute Shakera Selman taking the diving catch, by then the damage was done as Australia had plundered 216 runs in just 32.4 overs.

But still, Healy showed some frustration at not having gone even bigger.

Perhaps her frustration came from letting her average in ODIs tick to just under 50, she now sits at 49.35, but it is a remarkable turnaround from the 2017 World Cup.

When Australia were knocked out of the World Cup semi-final by India five years ago, Healy was batting down at seven and averaging just 15.96.

Opening the batting from the 2017 Women’s Ashes onwards saw her move from a frustrated cricketer to a free one.

She admitted: “Being given an opportunity at the top does help that but I think it’s more about self-belief and confidence every time you walk out to bat.

“For me, that’s really just what changed. I was given a role, I was given a purpose and a responsibility and I really enjoyed that.

“Knowing that you’re being backed, gives you a little bit of self-confidence as well. That’s really been the shift for me and learning how to build in innings in ODI cricket is something that I never really got the opportunity to do, coming in for the back 10 overs, just trying to slog away like I do in T20 cricket.

“It’s been a learning curve over the last five years, but I’ve really enjoyed being given that responsibility at the top of the order.

“I love facing some of the best bowlers in the world, it’s always a good challenge. From that side of things, it’s been a really pleasing run.”

It is a run that Healy will hope has at least one more big game in it when Australia take to the Hagley Oval field in the World Cup final on Sunday.

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

Dubai, March 30, 2022 (PPI-OT):Australia’s plan for world domination is right on course, said Alyssa Healy as her 129 helped Australia to a 157-run win over the West Indies in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 semi-final.

Healy and Rachael Haynes put on 216 for the first wicket as Australia posted 305 for three, a record for a World Cup knockout game despite the match being shortened to 45 overs due to early rain.

The West Indies never looked like chasing the total down and ended on 148 for eight with Anisa Mohammed and Chinelle Henry unable to take the field due to injury and illness.

Healy said: “It’s a great thing, for our group to be in a one-day World Cup final, it’s exactly where we wanted to be when we landed in New Zealand.

“We knew we wanted to be in Christchurch on the 3rd of April, and we were going to do everything we possibly could to get there, and I think we’ve played some unbelievable cricket throughout these last few weeks with everything that’s been thrown at us as well.

“Wellington’s a really interesting place to play cricket, so it’s been an enjoyable experience coming to the ground every day and different conditions being thrown at us.

“I’m just really proud of this group and hopefully we can put it all together one more time on Sunday.”

Australia had said they were missing a perfect game despite going unbeaten in the group stages, but Healy believes they found one to advance to their seventh one-day World Cup final.

She said: “It’s probably exactly what we’ve been searching for this whole World Cup, which was awesome.

“I guess to be able to do it on the big stage and the pressure as a group was really pleasing and hopefully we can do it once more on Sunday.”

Healy shrugged off the tag of big-game player and was also unfazed to learn this was her first hundred in a World Cup.

But she took delight in helping her side into what will be her maiden fifty-over World Cup final with either England or South Africa joining them tomorrow.

She added: “I wasn’t aware of that stat [maiden World Cup hundred], so it hasn’t really been a source of frustration.

“I’ve managed to find ways to get myself out through this World Cup that is probably more of a frustration.

“For me today to be able to go on and just help the team get to a big total and build a really good score on what wasn’t exactly the flattest wicket going around, it was doing a bit, so that was probably more pleasing than anything else.”

For the West Indies, their remarkable run has come to an end – the Maroon Warriors qualified for the knockout stages thanks to a defeat for India at the hands of South Africa in the final group game.

But their leading run-scorer and wicket-taker Hayley Matthews believes there are plenty of positives to be taken from their campaign in New Zealand.

She said: “Obviously we would have liked to go further, but I think looking back on this team’s journey, playing a series against South Africa last year, getting thrashed in that.

“Even in terms of individual growth, we’ve seen so many of our players taking steps at becoming better players and becoming more consistent and there’s just so many positives that we can take from this tournament for us, which is really heartening to see.

“Beating a team like New Zealand and then being able to beat a team like England right after these are things that we couldn’t imagine doing a year ago.

“It’s just really, really good to be a part of the growth that this team has had over the last year and I genuinely do think that if we continue moving in this direction it is only bigger things for us.

“We speak about the advantages that some of the other teams would have over us like Australia or England, with their domestic structure and the amount of talent that they have to pull from within their pools, and then you look at us competing against teams like that.

“It just shows the fight and the heart that we really do have as a team.”

For now, the West Indies will return home with their heads held high while Australia will head to Christchurch for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 final on Sunday.

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

Dubai, March 30, 2022 (PPI-OT):England have effectively been playing knockout cricket since the fourth match of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 and skipper Heather Knight believes they could not have asked for better preparation for their semi-final.

Three defeats in as many games for the defending champions left England on the brink, but they have responded with four successive wins to book their place in the last four.

The last of those losses came to South Africa, their opponents in Christchurch, and Knight has been impressed at the way her team has turned things around.

She said: “We’ve been playing knockout cricket for the last four games. So we’re so used to obviously having that pressure on us and if we make one mistake we’re out and that’s perfect preparation for World Cup semi-final where you know the stakes and you know what’s on the line and I think it shows a lot about the character in this group after those first three games.

“We’ve obviously lost three close games and we were very disappointed and frustrated but the way we’ve turned it around, I think has been outstanding. The way we’ve managed to stay pretty positive, change a few things that were in our control.

“We’re very good players and I think we’ve just managed to find a way to win again, which has been very nice. Hopefully, it will give us a lot of confidence going into that semi-final, we feel like we’ve built a bit of momentum up in the last four games. And that’s a nice place to be again into the semis.”

One area where England have not quite fired yet is in the batting, with most players having produced a significant innings, but rarely at the same time.

And Knight admits it is time to put that right.

She added: “I think it’s great that individuals are stepping up at different times. I think we’ve had each batter win us a game at some point, but I don’t think we’ve put it all together yet, what a perfect time to change that than the World Cup semi-final. I think the signs are really good.

“I’ve been a bit frustrated. I’ve got a few starts, a couple of 40-odds and I guess a couple of not outs in there as well. So, I haven’t really been able to make that match-defining contribution I guess but I am feeling pretty good here, I feel like I’m hitting the ball well and had a really good session today.”

Knight will be in familiar territory, five years after leading England to World Cup glory, while this is new ground for South Africa skipper Sune Luus who took over the captaincy just before the tournament after an injury to regular captain Dane van Niekerk.

But Luus is keen to highlight what qualifying for a first World Cup final would mean for her team.

She said: “We have an opportunity to make South Africa really proud and to make history. I think that is the biggest thing for me as captain.

“It’s a big honour, it’s something I never really thought of doing, especially so soon in my career. Tomorrow is going to be a big game. There will probably be a couple of tears before the game.

“It’s an opportunity to make history in South Africa and change a lot of lives back home as well and for us as players. I’m very excited with some butterflies as well but that’s something we’ll manage when the time comes.”

The semi-final is a repeat of the meeting five years ago at the same stage, when England edged a thriller in Bristol by two wickets.

Luus took two for 24 that day as South Africa fell just short, but insists the result will have no bearing.

She added: “We haven’t brought up 2017. It’s five years ago, teams have changed, players have grown a lot since that semi-final.

“I think we’ve become a way better team since that semi-final so that’s definitely in the past and we look to tomorrow as a whole new game in a whole new World Cup.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com