Skipper Alyssa Healy revealed the Australian batters targeted Indian pacers after identifying the assistance for left-arm spinner Sree Charani on the surface and said the host’s limited bowling options also made the task of scaling down a daunting target easier for them.

Australia successfully completed a record chase of 331 for a three-wicket win as Healy led from the front with a marvellous 142 off 107 balls in its World Cup match here on Sunday.

Healy and other Aussie batters took the attack to India’s pacers — Kranti Gaud and Amanjot Kaur — exposing the imprudence of its five-bowler strategy.

Gaud went for 73 runs in nine overs while Kaur conceded 68 runs in her nine overs.

“I think Charani was getting quite a bit of spin, the left-arm spinner. She was actually the pick of the bowlers and I think we identified that and thought if we could capitalise on some of the pace bowlers then that would be handy knowing they’ve only got five bowlers in their attack,” Healy said in the post-match press conference.

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“But it wasn’t really a distinct plan as such. It just sort of panned out that way on the day and I think with the wicket sliding on, it probably enabled us to do it,” she added.

Coming into the match, Gaud had a slight upper hand in the head-to-head match-up with Healy, having dismissed the Aussie skipper in all three games of the ODI series last month.

But the 35-year-old took down the young quick in the PowerPlay to destroy her rhythm and repeated the punishment when Gaud came for her second spell after the 30th over.

“Obviously (I was) aware that Kranti had got me out a fair bit throughout the ODI series, so an opportunity to go out there and lock in a contest with her and just sort of have a bit of fun in that regard, I think got me going and that was really a really enjoyable experience.”

Healy said she doubted her decision to bowl first when Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal were batting fluently but lauded Australian bowlers for reining in the host’s batters later in the innings.

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 like posting a total in the vicinity of 380.

But India lost its last six wickets for a mere 36 runs and ended up at 330 all out in 48.5 overs from 294 for four in 43 overs.

“Sometimes as captain, you hang on for dear life and try the best you possibly can, to stem the flow of runs. I think maybe after 8-9 overs with the ball in hand, I thought, oh, what have I done? Thinking we’re going to be chasing a big total. The two openers looked really set,” Healy said.

Pacer Annabel Sutherland (5/40) was the star for Australia as she picked up a heap of wickets in the backend, using a slew of slow deliveries.

“I thought we did really well to hang in there with the ball. Oddly restrict them to 330, which sounds a little bit crazy. I think we bowled a little bit poorly at times and probably gave India an opportunity to cash in. Alana King and Annabel Sutherland actually created some pressure and opportunities.

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“Then Belzy (Sutherland) sort of cashed in at her end. So that was really cool. And I thought the bowling unit as a whole really hung in there and created a whole heap (of chances) in that back 10,” she said.

But that was just one part of the story as Healy later produced a stupendous century as the Aussies surmounted the target in 49 overs.

“I think it needed somebody to make a 100 to chase down that total. Obviously, you’d probably like two (batters) to make 100 just to make it easy, but somebody needed to. It hasn’t been my day of late, but it was my day today.”

It was Healy’s sixth ODI hundred and first as Australia women’s captain.

“I would have liked to be there a little bit longer and probably see it home, but I think to get ourselves in a winning position at that point in time was really cool and I’ll probably reflect on that a little bit later and be a little bit happy,” she noted.

Published on Oct 13, 2025