Captain Meg Lanning praised openers Alyssa Healy and Rachael Haynes’ brilliant performances as Australia registered a dominant 157-runs victory over West Indies to reach the final of the ongoing ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 on Wednesday.
Healy smashed 129 from 107 balls and Haynes scored 85 from 100 deliveries as the openers put on 216 runs for the opening wicket to help Australia amass 305/3 in a rain-curtailed match, which was later reduced to 45 overs.
“I thought Healy and Haynes set it up nicely for us. West Indies bowled really well upfront. I thought we planned it well and set a really good base. We felt that the first hour was really important. We’ve played here a number of times on a fresh wicket,” said Meg Lanning in a post-match presentation.
“The way Healy and Haynes played was great, they left a lot of balls which is important in these conditions. We often speak about how to make maximum use of our batting line-up and today it meant sending her (Gardner) up the order,” said Lanning.
It was a scintillating partnership from Healy and Haynes, as the duo smashed West Indies’ bowling to put on the third-highest opening stand in Australia’s WODI history.
“Yes, it was (almost the perfect game). Anytime you win a semifinal, you got to enjoy the moment but we were quite good in all departments. We don’t mind whoever we face to be honest, both are really good teams and we’ll be watching tomorrow’s game,” she added.
Chasing 306, skipper Stafanie Taylor scored 48 played a lone hand for West Indies, while Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews scored 34 runs each at the top of the order. But they received little support from others as Australia cruised home. (ANI)
