‘Un-Australian’: Sloppy display, record chase send Healy’s troops home early from World Cup

Alyssa Healy called it “un-Australian”. It was certainly unexpected, and unbecoming for the team that has until the past year or so boasted perhaps the most enviable winning record in world sport.

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Australian women’s team will not be in possession of either the ODI or Twenty20 World Cup after they were toppled by India in the semi-final of the Women’s World Cup on Thursday night.

This is the last time Healy will be seen at the 50-over tournament, and coach Shelley Nitschke has some thinking to do about how to hand leadership to the next generation.

Australia’s elimination by India in Mumbai was brought about largely by an extraordinary century from Jemimah Rodrigues in her team’s world record chase, but what will stick in the craw of Healy’s team is the sloppiness that allowed her to get that far.

With the bat, the Australians did not fully capitalise on Phoebe Litchfield’s sparkling 119 from a mere 93 balls. Apart from Ash Gardner (63 from 45 balls), the rest of the innings rather fell away, and 338 all out was the minimum Australia might have expected when racing to 1-180 in the 27th over.

Still, it would have been enough with more chances taken. Three went down in all, two off Rodrigues.

No single moment will define a sense of waste quite like the skied catch that Healy somehow shelled with the wicketkeeper’s gloves on, having returned to the side following a calf problem. Alana King beat Rodrigues in the air and off the pitch and the top edge should have been simple.

Instead, it bounced out of hard hands, causing a collective gasp of shock around the ground and effectively shutting the door for an Australian revival. Then 88, Rodrigues went on to an unbeaten 127 to shepherd her side home.

“It feels a little bit un-Australian to not be as clinical as we normally are, and knowing how well we’ve played this World Cup,” Healy said.

For Healy, this was the second consecutive world event in which the Australians had been knocked out before reaching the final. On both occasions, injury had muddled her tournament, forcing Tahlia McGrath to step up.

Last year, Healy was unable to get fit for the semi-final and watched a loss to South Africa from the sidelines. On this occasion, she met the fitness staff’s timetable, but still looked short of match sharpness, getting out cheaply then untidy with the gloves.

“I think we created enough [chances]. We created pressure,” Healy said. “We created opportunities. We just weren’t able to capitalise. And, you know, I’m at fault for that as well, and I think that’s something that Australia really prides themselves on.”

“It felt a little bit similar this time last year, sort of going out playing, you know, not the way that we wanted to play.”

There is still a formidable amount of talent in and around the Australian side. Apart from Litchfield, Georgia Voll looked right at home in Healy’s absence, and Gardner was dominant in the middle order. Beth Mooney was a match-winner against Pakistan and otherwise solid.

Leg spinner King had an exceptional tournament apart from two games against India where she might have been better used, and Annabel Sutherland topped the wicket-taking aggregates.

There is some mitigation for Australia in that the team had to handle an alleged assault on two of their players that is now subject to an Indian police investigation. While they will not wish to make it an excuse, such events can place a mental drain on players, particularly in terms of their freedom to leave the hotel and find solace in a simple coffee.

For all that, the most significant thing about the result in Mumbai will be how it can launch Indian women’s cricket into the heavens. An elated Rodrigues revealed that she had drawn on divine inspiration as her energy levels ebbed.

“Initially, I was just playing, talking to myself,” she said. “But towards the end, I was quoting a scripture from the Bible because I had lost energy and I was very tired. I was drained. But the scripture says ‘just stand still, and God will fight for you.’ And that’s what I did. He fought for me.”

An upset victory over the West Indies in the 1983 men’s World Cup vaulted the game into pole position as India’s most popular sporting passion, where it has stayed ever since. A victory in the final over South Africa, finalists in last year’s T20 World Cup won by New Zealand, would have a similarly Biblical effect.

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