"To watch her bat from the other end is truly special": Healy hails Litchfield after Australia sweeps ODI series
Jan 02, 2024
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 2 : Australia skipper Alysa Healy hailed young opener Pheobe Litchfield for her record-breaking ton against India in the final ODI on Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium.
The 20-year-old batter scored 119 off 125 balls to propel Australia's score to 338/7. Litchfield's knock was brought to an end by Deepti Sharma's spin.
As the young star walked back to the dugout she finished the ODI series with 260 runs in her kitty and became the first woman cricketer to hit three 50-plus scores in a three-game ODI series both against and in India.
"At 20 years of age, what an unbelievable talent. Two hundreds already makes for scary stats. She's the self-proclaimed best fielder in the team, and today she proved why. For me, to watch her bat from the other end is truly special. I am very blessed to have so many options with the ball, and everytime someone sticks their hand up to get the job done for Australia," Healy said after the match.
After Australia completed the whitewash over India following their 190-run victory, both teams will once again compete in a three-match T20I series which will begin on January 5.
"We'll take this 3-0 win. Three T20s to go, we'll see how we do in that. We want to continue to maintain our standards, we weren't too thrilled with our fielding in the first game, but we came out with a point to prove after that," Healy added.
After her match-winning ton, Litchfield also set a new high-water mark for most runs by an Australian woman in a three-game ODI series, eclipsing Meg Lanning's 246 against New Zealand in 2016.
Litchfield is the second Australian woman to hit a one-day ton at Wankhede, following Lanning, who hit a ton at the iconic Mumbai ground during the 2013 World Cup.
She also became just the seventh visiting batter to hit a one-day hundred in India.
Litchfield has scored more runs in 50-over cricket in a calendar year before turning 21 than any other Australian woman batter. She has amassed 485 runs in 2023 surpassing Meg Lanning's previous tally by a single run.
