'New winner will do wonders for women's game': Alyssa Healy's silver lining from WC semifinal loss to India
India stunned Australia in the Women's World Cup semifinal to notch up one of the greatest ODI victories for the Women in Blue in Navi Mumbai on Thursday, October 30. India ended Australia's 15-match winning streak in the Women's World Cup and it was the Women in Blue, who had last beaten the seven-time champions and now stand a win away from winning the first-ever title. Australian skipper Alyssa Healy was obviously disappointed, but couldn't help but be proud of where the women's game is headed, with a new champion to be crowned on November 2.
Healy mentioned after the match that the defending champions' performance was 'un-Australian-like' given there were several dropped chances, wayward deliveries and overall the team being quite far off the mark but was proud of her team's journey until the semi-finals, while confirming that this was her last World Cup.
Healy mentioned that it was the closest World Cup in terms of lower-ranked teams being able to stretch the bigger ones, if not for the Colombo leg, where five out of 11 matches were washed out. When asked about a potential new champion in the 13th edition of the tournament at the press conference, Healy said, "Oh, I think it's really cool and I think it's probably a showcase of this tournament. I think I've heard many people say that this is the closest tournament they've ever played in when it comes to ODI World Cups. And I tend to agree.
"You look at the performances, obviously rain played a little bit of a part in Colombo and probably the bottom four teams probably suffered a little bit more in that regard. But I think, there was genuinely eight teams in finals contention, which I thought was really cool," Healy further said, mentioning that a new champion will open more avenues for the women, particularly in the country winning the title and overall in the world, especially given how well the tournament has been supported and watched in India.
"And I think to see a new winner is going to do wonders for the game. To see how well it's been supported here in India, first and foremost, I think it's great for them to be able to have the opportunity to play it at home in front of home fans in an ODI World Cup final is going to be really special for them.
"So, I hope it does great things for Indian cricket and likewise for South Africa as well. I think they've been close in the past, so for them to have an opportunity in a final, yeah, it's going to be, going to be great to watch. It's going to hurt a little bit, but it's going to be really great to watch and hopefully we see it do great things for the global game and more investment in each of these nations moving forward," she further added.
Australia now have lost in the semi-finals of two consecutive women's ICC events - the T20 World Cup last year in the UAE and now in the Cricket World Cup - and will now hope that the next year's T20 World Cup in England is a better one in terms of where they finish. For India and South Africa, a past-defying and history-changing moment is waiting on Sunday.
