Lanning and Healy hundreds crush West Indies
Australia Women 308 for 4 (Healy 122, Lanning 121) beat West Indies Women 130 (Taylor 70*, Perry 3-17) by 178 runs
Australia began their tour of the West Indies in fine style as Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy flayed centuries as part of a 225-run stand to set up a crushing 178-run victory in Antigua.
Lanning’s was her 13th ODI century – the fastest player, male or female, to reach that landmark, in 76 innings, ahead of Hashim Amla’s 83 – while Healy made her second as the pair dominated the majority of Australia’s innings following the shock of losing Rachael Haynes first ball.
Healy was the first to her landmark off 95 balls with Lanning reaching three figures from 137 deliveries with a six off Stafanie Taylor. In all, Lanning struck four sixes with one of them landing in the swimming pool at the Coolidge Ground. Australia’s eventual margin of victory was their largest by runs against West Indies.
The stand of 225 in 38 overs, in oppressively hot conditions, was Australia’s second highest for any wicket in ODIs, behind the 244 added by Karen Rolton and Lisa Sthalekar against Ireland in 2005. Both players were given lives in what was a ragged display from West Indies.
“It was a tricky wicket, never really coming through at any great pace so was tricky to adapt to and you never really felt in,” Healy said. “It was very hot, very different coming straight from the UK over here, but I enjoyed it – sweat out a few beers I’ve had in the last month and a bit celebrating the Ashes.
“It was probably one of the more scratchy innings I’ve played, never really felt in, and probably hit a few in the air that I didn’t want to. Hopefully next game I can rectify it, but there’s a hundred on the board and wouldn’t change it for anything.”
When Healy departed, Ellyse Perry chipped in with an unbeaten 33 off 31 balls – Australia’s innings saw steady progression throughout with the five 10-over splits bringing 55, 51, 62, 66 and 74 runs.
There was precious little for West Indies to take from the innings after the early high of Shamilia Connell having Haynes caught behind although she and Afy Fletcher kept their economy rates under six an over in their allocation of 10 overs.
Perry, getting the new ball to swing, then played a leading role in blowing away West Indies’ top order which was missing the suspended Hayley Matthews who had been withdrawn from the ODI squad hours before the match started for breaching the code of conduct.
Both openers, Natasha McLean and Stacey-Ann King, fell for ducks as did Kyshona Knight as West Indies stumbled to 8 for 3 at the end of the second over and Perry’s third wicket, trapping Reniece Boyce lbw, compounded the problems.
Taylor, who offered the majority of what resistance there was, with 70 off 114 balls, and Chinelle Henry briefly rallied before the latter drove a return catch to legspinner Georgia Wareham who claimed her second wicket when Lanning added to her stellar day by grabbing a stunning catch, full-stretch to her right, at slip to remove debutant Shabika Gajnabi.
Taylor showed her team-mates what was possible but was left stranded when Connell pulled to mid-on with Kycia Knight unable to bat. The only area where Australia slipped was conceding 26 wides.
