Alyssa Healy: Getting bundled out for 219 after electing to bat and allowing India to score 91/1 at the end of the first day of the match pushed Australia Women on the back foot, Australia captain Alyssa Healy said on Sunday.
India defeated Australia by eight wickets on the fourth and final day of the match reaching 75/2 in their second innings after bowling out the visitors for 261 in 15.4 overs on the fourth morning, with off-spinner Sneh Rana bagging 4-63 and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Rajeshwari Gayakwad claiming a couple each.
“We knew it was going to be a tough ask but I’m really proud of our group and the fight that we showed. At the end of the day, I think we had probably 1 bad day of cricket which will cost you in a four-day game of cricket. But All in all a really enjoyable experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it,” Healy said in the post-match press conference on Sunday.
India had bundled out the top team in women’s cricket for 219 with pacer Pooja Vastrakar making the early impact with 4-53 and Sneh Rana contributing 3-56 in the first innings. The hosts then rode on half-centuries by Deepti Sharma (789), Smriti Mandhana (74), Jemimah Rodrigues (73) and debutante Richa Ghosh (52) to post 406 and take a 187-run lead in the first innings.
The Australian skipper said the Australians believed that they could win the match even on the final day with just 46 runs ahead with five wickets in hand.
“I don’t think at any point (that the match has gone out of hand), probably only when Smriti Mandahana hit a six on the last ball.
“I think even coming in today, all results were possible. I think we truly believe that in the changeroom. I think if we had batted for about 30-40 overs this morning and even put, you know, over 100, maybe 150 on the board, things could have been really interesting this afternoon.”
Healy said her team went on the back foot after the first day itself as they batted and bowled poorly to concede an advantage to India.
“So look at the end of the day, like I said, I think we had one bad day. I think when we won the toss, we batted and got bowled out on that first day and then probably leaked 90 runs in the afternoon, it makes things really challenging for us. We’re almost on the back foot on the first day.
The 33-year-old from Queensland, who was leading the team in her first Test since taking over from Meg Lanning and coming back from an injury break, said she was happy with the way her team fought back in the match.
“So from my point of view, the fact that we fought for the next 2 1/2 days and got the game to the position that it was this afternoon, I think it was a huge effort from our group and one that we can take a big, big lot of confidence out of,” she added.
Asked whether they went wrong with their bowling after being bowled out cheaply in the first innings, Healy said they probably did not bowl the right lengths against the Indian openers on the first day.
“Oh yeah, like I said, I think getting bowled out in the afternoon of that first day and then letting them get to a none-for-90 start was obviously not ideal. I think we probably just didn’t adjust to our lengths quickly enough. We probably gave them a bit too much to hit early on that first day, which put us on the back foot quite early.
“So in terms of the captaincy side of thing, yeah, I’m, still coming to grips with it. I mean I myself have only played seven Test matches I think, so you wouldn’t see too many captains sitting here that have played that little Test matches in the men’s game,” said Healy.
