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 the highest scorer, but it was an important return to form with bat in hand for the Australian keeper and opening batter.

After some lean scores with the bat earlier in the series, she returned to form on Tuesday in a big way, scoring 82 from 85 balls, in an innings which included four fours and three sixes.

Although Healy initially did not take strike at the beginning of the innings – that was left to Phoebe Litchfield – it was not long before Healy was at the crease, and began her scoring with a nice, easy two out square of the wicket.

Healy took a little while to truly get going, but her first boundary came on the eighth ball she faced, as she guided the ball down past the slips area and to the boundary.

Her first six of the match came in the seventh over, when Renuka Singh Thakur actually bowled Healy a straight delivery with a slight deviation spin towards the stumps, but the placement of the ball when it hit the bat combined with Healy’s timing meant it was a smooth whack straight down the ground for a six.

Her second six came in the 12th over. It was a brutal way to end Mannat Kashyap’s debut bowling over, as Healy took two steps towards the ball and lofted it straight down the ground.

Her third six came in the 23rd over, and technique wise it really was a combination of the first two sixes. The ball from Shreyanka Patil was pretty straight, but Healy took two steps forward to meet the ball and helped it fly down the ground for another maximum.

She and Litchfield continued to build a strong partnership together, something that has been a long time coming this series.

They eventually got the partnership to 189 runs, before Healy was bowled by Pooja Vastrakar. She has survived an LBW scare earlier in her innings but was not so lucky this time around.

When it came to the Australian fielding innings Healy also had an active part in one of the wickets, catching Thankur behind the stumps off Annabel Sutherland’s bowling for the penultimate wicket.