Batting stalwart Alyssa Healy has acknowledged that Australia will have to negotiate the spin challenge in a big way to stake its claim to the World Cup for a record-extending eighth time in the Indian subcontinent.
The star wicketkeeper-batter will be the one to watch out for when the showpiece event begins in India and Sri Lanka next month as the Southern Stars aim to retain the title they won in New Zealand in 2022.
Healy gave a preview of what to expect in the global event when she blazed away to an unbeaten 137 as Australia A picked up a consolation nine-wicket win against India A in the third one-dayer in Brisbane.
Though Australia A lost the series 1-2, Healy stood out in the opener’s role by emerging as the highest run-getter of the series.
She had struck a 91-run knock in the previous game, once again displaying her mastery against the India A spin attack that had the likes of Radha Yadav, Minnu Mani, Tanuja Kanwar, and Prema Rawat, who did not play the third match.
“They’ve (India A) got a really spin-heavy attack and we’re going to have to play a lot of that throughout the World Cup as well, a lot of the middle overs will be spin-biased,” Healy told cricket.com.au.
Australia A was more determined on Sunday as it made a mockery of the spin attack to finish the match in less than 28 overs by chasing down a modest 217-run target for the loss of just one wicket.
Australia A coach Dan Marsh too felt that Healy’s performance on Sunday places her in a good space ahead of the World Cup in India.
“Alyssa batted well today. All pre-season she’s been looking good and it was just nice to see her get some match practice and put that into place heading into India,” Marsh said.
“She’ll be really happy with her two weeks (with Australia A), will have a nice little rest at home now and be ready to go to India,” added Marsh.
