'A little bit un-Australian': Healy reflects on semifinal sting

Alyssa Healy summed it up best while describing Australia's stunning defeat to India in the World Cup semifinals. "Un-Australian," she called it. The word struck, because it was true in more ways than one. The seven-time champions piled up 338 on the big stage, yet somehow left runs behind, a curious shortfall after Phoebe Litchfield's superb hundred had set them up for dominance.

With the ball, the lines wavered. Too many deliveries, including the one that dismissed Smriti Mandhana, drifted down the leg side. Most startling of all was the absence of the 'clutch gene' in the field. Healy and later Tahlia McGrath put down straightforward chances to reprieve Jemimah Rodrigues, whose 127* would be one of the most defining World Cup knocks by an Indian in a World Cup knockout game.

And so, women's cricket witnessed a record chase, clearing the path for a new champion to be crowned on Sunday (November 2). It also meant that Australia, within 12 months, had lost two World Cup semifinals. For the first time since the T20 World Cup's introduction in 2009, they had failed to reach the final of consecutive ICC tournaments.

This one, though, is bound to leave them confused. Australia had entered the game unbeaten in 15 ODI World Cup games, breezed through the league stage of this edition, and yet found a way to stumble at the penultimate hurdle. As captain, Healy bore the unenviable task of making sense of it all in the immediate aftermath.

"I think ultimately we just weren't sharp enough probably today, probably in all three facets, definitely to give ourselves the opportunity to win that semi-final," Healy said. "I think we did pretty well to hang in there. We created a lot of opportunities and let ourselves down in that regard. So probably sitting here disappointed knowing that we sort of did that to ourselves a little bit. Not taking anything away from the Indian performance. I thought they played really well. But yeah, there's a little bit of an element of we let ourselves down a little bit.

"Winning the toss and batting first, I think we could have been a little bit better and got a few more, ironically. So, yeah, I think at the halfway mark we thought we went okay. We thought we still had a pretty big job to do with the ball and ultimately I just think we dished up a little bit too much junk to hit at times and also probably just didn't capitalize on the opportunities that we did create. So, yeah, disappointing. It sort of feels a little bit un-Australian to be not as clinical as what we normally are. Knowing how well we've played this World Cup feels a little bit disappointing sitting here," she added.

Healy couldn't quite put a finger on why Australia had such an uncharacteristically loose day in the field, usually their greatest separator from the chasing pack. "They [dropped catches] definitely changed the course of the match. Was it semi-final pressure? Maybe. Was it just, concentration? Was it anything? I'm not sure... we could put that down to whatever. But like I said, on a pretty decent wicket that seemed to be getting better and better to bat on as the night went on, to create those opportunities that we did and not capitalize, I think was disappointing.

"Oddly, I think we were still in it with four or five overs to go. Probably five overs to go. I think we were still in it. Funny things happen in games of cricket when it gets tight like that. If you can put enough pressure on an opposition, things can unfold. So, yeah, she [Rodrigues] played really well tonight. Obviously, like I said, we gave her a couple of opportunities which didn't help us, but I thought she played really well. I think her resilience; I think her mental resilience out there to get her team over the line was exemplary. So full credit to her."

Comparisons can be lazy, yet the deja vu was hard to escape. Australia's last ODI World Cup defeat, eight years ago, had also come against India, sealed by another generational knock. After that loss in Derby, Australia dissected their white-ball cricket and emerged all-conquering again, hoarding trophies for fun. Thursday's loss may not demand a full reinvention, but introspection will follow, even as the next wave, led by Litchfield, stands ready to extend their legacy.

"I think first and foremost, I think the opportunity for some of our players to play in a really high-pressure situation like that is going to do wonders for our group," Healy reflected. "And I think this is same thing happened in 2017. We reflected on that and thought we could have done things a little bit better under pressure where we can be better at little certain aspects of our game moving forward. And I think we made that shift moving forward and we've seen it over the last cycle doing that one in 2022. So, this is just another reignition, I suppose, to our group to say, you what, we can be better at little moments of the game. But I guess for our group to experience that, to be put under pressure and see how we respond is going to do great things for us moving forward."

Even in defeat, Healy's gaze stretched beyond the sting of the night, toward what a first-time champion, either India or South Africa, could mean for the women's game. "I think it's really cool and I think it's probably a showcase of this tournament. I think I've heard many people say that this is the closest tournament they've ever played in when it comes to ODI World Cups. And I tend to agree. You look at the performances, obviously rain played a little bit of a part in Colombo and probably the bottom four teams probably suffered a little bit more in that regard. But I think, there was genuinely eight teams in finals contention, which I thought was really cool," she said.

"And I think to see a new winner is going to do wonders for the, for the game. To see how well it's been supported here in India, first and foremost, I think it's great for them to be able to have the opportunity to play it at home in front of home fans in an ODI World Cup final is going to be really special for them. So, I hope it does great things for Indian cricket and likewise for South Africa as well. I think they've been close in the past, so for them to have an opportunity in a final, yeah, it's going to be, going to be great to watch. It's going to hurt a little bit, but it's going to be really great to watch and hopefully we see it do great things for the global game and more investment in each of these nations moving forward."