Captain Alyssa Healy revealed that the Australian batters targeted Indian pacers after identifying left-arm spinner Sree Charani's help on the surface and said the hosts' limited bowling options also made it easier for them to reduce an intimidating target.
Australia successfully completed a record chase of 331 for a three-wicket win as Healy led from the front with a whopping 142 off 107 balls in his World Cup match here on Sunday.
Healy and other Australian batsmen took the attack on India's pacers – Kranti Gaud and Amanjot Kaur – exposing the carelessness of his five-bowler strategy.
Gaud scored 73 runs in nine overs while Kaur conceded 68 runs in her nine overs.
“I think Charani got quite a bit of spin, the left-arm spinner. She was actually the favorite of the bowlers and I think we identified that and thought if we could take advantage of some of the fast bowlers, that would be useful knowing they only have five bowlers in their attack,” Healy said at the post-match press conference.
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“But it wasn't really a clear plan as such. It just kind of played out on the day and I think when the wicket moved on it probably allowed us to do it,” she added.
Coming into the match, Gaud had a slight upper hand in the head-to-head clash with Healy, having dismissed the Australian skipper in all three matches of the ODI series last month.
But the 35-year-old quickly defeated the youngster in the PowerPlay to destroy her rhythm and repeated the punishment when Gaud came on for her second spell after the 30th over.
“I was obviously aware that Kranti had really outdone me during the ODI series, so a chance to go out and compete with her and just have a bit of fun in that regard, I think it got me going and that was a really enjoyable experience.
Healy said she questioned her decision to bowl first when Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal were batting fluently, but praised the Australian bowlers for keeping the hosts' batters in check later in the innings.
Alyssa Healy revealed that the Australian batters had noticed that left-arm spinner Sree Charani was getting help from the surface. | Photo credit: KR DEEPAK
Alyssa Healy revealed that the Australian batters had noticed that left-arm spinner Sree Charani was getting help from the surface. | Photo credit: KR DEEPAK
After being asked to bat first, Mandhana (80) and Rawal (75) added 155 runs in 24.3 overs, giving India a solid start and at that stage they looked to have posted a total in the region of 380.
But India lost their last six wickets for just 36 runs to finish at 330 all out in 48.5 overs, from 294 for four in 43 overs.
“Sometimes as a captain you hang on for dear life and do your best to stop the flow of runs. I think after 8-9 overs with the ball in hand I thought, oh, what have I done? I thought we were going to be chasing a big total. The two openers really seemed stuck,” Healy said.
Pacer Annabel Sutherland (5/40) was the star for Australia as she took a load of wickets in the backend, with the help of a slew of slow deliveries.
“I thought we did a really good job of holding on to the ball there. Strangely enough we restricted them to 330, which sounds a bit crazy. I think we bowled a bit poorly at times and probably gave India a chance to cash in. Alana King and Annabel Sutherland actually created some pressure and chances.”
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“Then Belzy (Sutherland) kind of cashed in on her side. So that was really cool. And I thought the bowling unit as a whole really hung in there and created a whole bunch of (chances) in that back 10,” she said.
But that was only part of the story as Healy later produced an astonishing century as the Aussies conquered the target in 49 overs.
“I think it took someone to get to 100 to get to that total. Obviously you'd probably like two (batters) to get to 100 just to make it easy, but someone had to do that. It hasn't been my day lately, but it was my day today.”
It was Healy's sixth ODI hundred and first as captain of the Australian women.
“I would have liked to stay there a little bit longer and probably see it at home, but I think it was really cool to get in a winning position at that moment and I'll probably think about that later and be a little bit happy,” she noted.
Published on October 13, 2025
