Photo Credit: ICC
It had been threatening to happen in the first half of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, but today it finally came to pass.
Not the rain, that only created a brief interlude as Australia took on India at Eden Park, instead the highest successful run chase at a World Cup of 258 was finally beaten.
There had been five chances already in the tournament, but it was Australia who got the job done at the first time of asking.
New Zealand twice had the opportunity to set a new barrier and England, India and the West Indies each had a go too but fell short, so it was left to Australia to beat their own record, with Meg Lanning the star act again.
In 2017, Lanning’s 152 not out saw Australia reach 262 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 257 which included a sparkling unbeaten 178 for their captain Chamari Athapaththu.
Five years later and Lanning perished eight runs and balls shy of the finish.
She finished three short of what seemed a certain century until she was caught by Pooja Vastrakar off the bowling of Meghna Singh for 97.
Afterwards, Lanning admitted that her thoughts were on getting the win and not any personal glory after India’s bowling briefly brought them back into the contest.
When Australia toppled Sri Lanka in Bristol, they did so with 37 balls to spare, today only three would remain as Beth Mooney showed her composure to hit the winning runs.
It was a win founded on two crucial partnerships, the second continuing a remarkable double act.
Alyssa Healy and Rachael Haynes put on 121 runs for the first wicket, the highest opening stand any side has ever managed against India at a World Cup.
Healy departed after making 72 runs from 65 balls before Haynes joined her back in the dugout nine balls later having been caught behind on 43.
Unluckily for India it meant Lanning and Ellyse Perry were reunited at the crease for the 14th time when chasing in an ODI.
Prior to today they had shared five hundred stands with six fifty-partnerships, only twice failing to put on at least a half-century together.
By the time Ellyse Perry departed for 28 from 51 just after the rain delay, the pair had added another century partnership to their tally.
Today’s 103 for the third wicket moved their average as a partnership when chasing to an incredible 161.63 after piling on 1,293 runs in just 14 matches.
Lanning praised Perry’s calmness at the crease for their effectiveness when facing India’s bowling attack who were desperate to disrupt the pair.
“I think we’ve got different games, we hit to different areas of the ground, which I think helps us to put pressure on the bowlers,” she said.
“She’s very calm and so I think that allows me to just settle in and play my game. She’s a world-class player, has been for a long time and when she’s at the crease, I think everybody feels pretty calm.
“So, it was nice to be able to put that partnership together again, we felt like if we could put a couple of big ones together that was going to help get us over the line and that’s how it turned out.”
While Australia will hope to avoid another record chase, they have come through a stern test against India and are now free to experiment in their final two group games against Bangladesh and South Africa with their semi-final spot safely secured.
Lanning and her side may have written themselves slightly further into the record books in Auckland, but the main aim remains making history in Christchurch when this high-scoring ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 comes to an end.
Name of Author: ICC
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body for cricket, founded in 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference. Renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, it became the ICC in 1987. Headquartered in Dubai, UAE, the ICC has 108 member nations.
