WBBL08 Player Focus: Alyssa Healy (Sydney Sixers)
LAST Sunday at the Junction Oval in Melbourne hosted a big day of cricket, and a big day for the batters of all four sides which took to the field that day.
One such batter who produced a stellar innings with the willow was star Sydney Sixer, Alyssa Healy.
After a shaky start, she smashed 12 fours and four sixes on her way to an unbeaten 107, and as one half of a 154-run partnership with Ellyse Perry, helped her side defeat the Perth Scorchers.
Despite her magnificent total, those watching the beginning of Healy’s innings would have been very surprised to know she would go on to make such a big score.
She got off to a very slow start, failing to get off the mark from her first seven deliveries, and taking until the 11th ball she faced to score her first boundary.
She lost opening partner Suzie Bates in the back end of the third over, but that brought Perry to the crease. From there, the score began to tick over with less dot balls, but no great wealth of boundaries.
Healy’s second boundary came in the eighth over, when she guided the ball down to square leg for four. She struck another one down the ground in the very same over.
The eighth over proved a turning point for Healy, as the boundaries began to flow more freely for the Aussie star.
Her first six came at the end of the 12th over, as she whacked the ball over deep mid wicket, using a lot of power to clear the rope off a spinner.
She hit another six three balls later when she guided a no ball full toss slightly squarer than her last maximum. She made it two in a row when she guided the very next ball straight down the ground.
The runs kept coming from Healy as she raced towards that century.
She was mainly hitting them front of square, but she was not afraid to work the ramp shot into her game, especially during the Power Surge.
Healy even copped a hit on the helmet on the way to her century, but that did not deter her as she guided the ball down to midwicket for her century.
She lost a few batting partners in the last two overs, but it did not matter to Healy as she kept her own wicket safe and hit the winning runs over the inner ring of fielders to help guide her team home.
WNCL Player Focus: Nicola Carey (Tasmania)
TASMANIA entered the WNCL history books on the weekend, becoming the second ever state to win a three peat of trophies after they defeated Queensland to take the 2023/24 title. A huge part of that success was Player of the Match Nicola Carey. Contributing with both ball and ball in hand, she deservedly earned the […]
International Player Focus: Cara Murray (Ireland)
AFTER a less than desired performance with a bat, Ireland turned things around with the ball in hand to defeat Zimbabwe in the third ODI between the countries, which saw it take the whole series. The Irish can largely thank spinner Cara Murray for their turn around in fortune in the match. Zimbabwe was starting […]
WNCL Player Focus: Amy Smith (Tasmania)
TASMANIA returned to WNCL action last week and kept its undefeated record in tact with a pair of wins over NSW. The first of which featured a starring performance from young spinner Amy Smith. Smith claimed five wickets in a performance that saw her dismiss batters at both ends of the innings, with her later […]
WNCL Player Focus: Zoe Cooke (Queensland)
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International Player Focus: Alyssa Healy (Australia)
IN its most dominant performance of the tour of India so far, Australia defeated the hosts by 190 runs in the third ODI on Tuesday. The win was all set up thanks to a strong start with the bat from the Australians, and a large part of that was skipper Alyssa Healy. She was not […]
International Player Focus: Annabel Sutherland (Australia)
AFTER a hard fought second ODI that went down to the wire, Australia ultimately prevailed over India to take an unassailable lead in its three-match series. One key cog in turning the match in Australia’s favour was Annabel Sutherland. The young quick helped give the back end of the Australian innings a bit of an […]
International Player Focus: Phoebe Litchfield (Australia)
IT was a historic match over in India for the Australian women’s cricket team, as they pulled off the second biggest chase in women’s ODI history to defeat India in the first ODI of the series. One of the key pillars of that chase was young star Phoebe Litchfield. The young star may be only […]
WNCL Player Focus: Sophie Molineux (Victoria)
LAST week Victoria made it two WNCL wins from as many matches against old rivals NSW when it defeated the Breakers by 60 runs. It was a dominant win from the Victorians with both bat and ball, and a large part of that was thanks to captain Sophie Molineux. It was only her second game […]
WNCL Player Focus: Lauren Smith (Tasmania)
DESPITE seemingly being in irreversible trouble, the Tasmanians snatched a win from the jaws of defeat against South Australia in the WNCL last week, winning by two wickets with 10 balls to spare to keep the wood over the Scorpions. One of the stars of that particular performance was none other than Lauren Smith. Smith […]
