Veteran Australia opener Rachel Haynes on Sunday said it was a pleasure watching Alyssa Healy’s stunning 170 and said it took some of the pressure off her.
Pushed to bat first, Haynes and Healy had to be patient as England got the ball to swing, with the power-play only 37 runs. But after that, Haynes opened, followed by Healy’s opening stand of 169 in 29 overs. Although Haynes fell for 68, Healy left the cricketing world in awe with one of the finest innings ever seen in the 50-over format.
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“It’s a lot of fun to watch Healy bat, and it takes the pressure off me, she was phenomenal. It’s one of the best innings I’ve ever seen and he saved it for the big opportunity,” Haynes said after the match.
Haynes was the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament with 497 runs at an average of 62.12 and a strike-rate of 82.55, including three half-centuries against England in the league stage and a century.
“It is good to contribute and get some runs, to start well and the nature of this tournament with back to back games is such that you can get on the roll. Nice to contribute well and get the win tonight,” Haynes said.
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Haynes, 35, admitted that Australia’s semi-final exit from the 2017 ODI World Cup prompted him to reinvent himself as a unit. “A bit tricky moment for our group (2017), it didn’t go as planned. And it was a big moment for us, understanding our roles and dealing with the pressure, building on that. It has been really special to have this kind of consistent play for a long time in this tournament.”
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