ICC Women’s World Cup: Alyssa Healy’s Injury In Focus As Australia Face South Africa | Cricket News

Alyssa Healy, Australia Women’s Captain

Australia is hoping their “three-in-one” skipper Alyssa Healy will be fit and ready for the top-of-the-table Women’s World Cup clash against South Africa on Saturday. South Africa has shown remarkable resilience to emerge as a strong contender for the prestigious trophy.

Healy, who serves as captain, opener, and wicketkeeper, suffered a calf injury during training ahead of the match against England on Wednesday. Tahlia McGrath led the seven-time champions to a significant win against their arch-rivals.

With the Proteas demonstrating their intent by winning five consecutive games after a 10-wicket defeat by England in the opener, Healy’s fitness is crucial. She has been in excellent form with the bat, scoring consecutive centuries against India and Bangladesh, placing her third among the highest run-getters in the tournament, despite playing two fewer games than India’s Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal.

Healy’s absence against England led to some adjustments in the batting order, but Australia still secured an easy victory. Annabel Sutherland and Ashleigh Gardner, who moved down the order, formed an unbeaten 180-run partnership.

Australia’s deep batting lineup, along with their array of pace and spin bowlers, makes them the team to beat. South Africa will need a significant effort to stop them.

The game against England showcased Australia’s fighting qualities. Despite losing their top four—Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Voll, Ellyse Perry, and Beth Mooney—cheaply to be reduced to 68/4, the team relied on their experience to achieve a comfortable win with Sutherland and Gardner scoring unbeaten 98 and 104 respectively.

South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt is aware of the depth in Australian batting and will rely on pace bowler Marizanne Kapp to deliver a memorable performance. Kapp has taken six wickets and scored two half-centuries, transitioning smoothly into her all-rounder role. However, the trio of openers Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits, and top-order batter Sune Luus will need to score most of the runs as South Africa lacks the same batting depth as their opponents.

The turnaround from the 10-wicket loss to England in the opening game has been remarkable. However, Australia poses a different challenge, and assessing their strengths and weaknesses before the knockouts would be a valuable step towards claiming the title.

Teams (From):

Australia: Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham.

South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Sune Luus, Karabo Meso, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, Chloe Tryon.

Match starts at 3 pm IST.

(With PTI Inputs)