Eden Park, Auckland, 19th March 2022, 15:46 Local Time
*Nirvana's Something in The Way hits*
Voice Over: Even with the COVID restrictions, there's a blue buzz around the ground. Against that general fervour, in walk a 35- and a 31-year-old with the sun beating down on their yellow armour to radiate gold. She's there too. Five years of opening have made her accustomed to this. It isn't a big target, but she must choose her targets carefully. They're calling her name out now. 'World's number one'. Number one. A fist pump and a smile follow. When that happens, it's not just a sign. It's a warning. To them, with the ball. From her, with the bat.
On the other end is this World Cup's leading run-getter, but that doesn't take away an iota of the spotlight from one Alyssa Healy. They're part of a proper bully squad who are in New Zealand to give every other team a beatdown. And there haven't been many more lethal than our protagonist. For with that helmet, them pads, and that bat, she is something more.
As has been the case in the tournament so far, Jhulan Goswami and Meghna Singh will start the proceedings with the new ball for India. Goswami is playing her 200th ODI, the first bowler in women's ODI history to do so.
If any bowler would have measures to contain Australia's heavy artillery, she must be called Jhulan. The 39-year-old has bowled at her before.
We now move to the classic cricket action shot, covering every ball from the bowler's action to the batter's reaction.
The first ball Jhulan bowls atto Healy is a half volley outside off. The two fielders guarding cover are bisected to help the white ball reach the boundary. Looks all too easy for her. The first ball Meghna bowls at her is outside leg, and helped by the bat to reach the long leg boundary.
Close-up shot of Healy chewing gum, her eyes operating between gazing the 22 yards below and her competitor beyond them.
'What would render them ineffective from here?', says a voice in her head.
'Perhaps another couple of boundaries to each of them this powerplay.'
She works on that. Swinging uppishly across covers, whacking the ball square past point, with the ’keeper closer to the stumps, pulling it in front of square on the on-side boundary, and leaning into the drive through the covers again. Inside six overs, she had laid the foundation required for the chase of 278. Just like she had been doing for the last five years.
A montage shot of best Alyssa Healy over the last five years: Since the 2017 World Cup, Healy has had the best strike rate in the powerplay and the best strike rate in ODIs among openers with a minimum of five games (101.86). Only opener with a 100 SR during this timeline.
The highest run-scorer in the competition had the luxury of having the best seat in the house to watch the world's number 1 at work. A second fifty in this World Cup came off 49 deliveries.
Against spin, to be precise, against Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Healy took her time to go full yellow knight mode. But once she did, it was all in.
Over 17 of the chase, and it was showtime. India had deployed a fielder at deep midwicket. The first ball was pitched outside off. Where do you think it went? Behind square on the on side, beating the fielder on her right for a boundary.
Next? Almost the same delivery. Another one swept, squarer this time but the same result. And there was that smirk that followed. A beautiful bully of a batter.
A wide and a dot ball followed. Another fielder had been put more square of the wicket to accompany the one at deep midwicket, leaving little scope for a low sweep as they've been earlier that over. It was futile. A tossed-up delivery on the middle stump was met with another bending down powerful shot, dissecting the two fielders.
You can almost hear her, 'You don't get it, girl… this isn't the outfield...it's an operating table. And I'm the surgeon.’
The question around Australia’s win had switched from ‘if’ to ‘when’ by now. The focus wasn't on the result as much as the score of one bat vigilante. That's the kind of batter she had become since the last World Cup.
Another rewind montage plays: Debuting in 2010, in the 41 innings that Healy played till the 2017 World Cup, she had only two fifty-plus scores, averaging 15.96. All this while batting across seven different positions (1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th). Since then in 38 innings she averages almost 50 with 16 fifty-plus scores. All this while only opening for Australia.
For the second time in the tournament, she had reached the 72-run mark, quicker this time around. And for the second time in the tournament, her innings ended at 72. The much-needed wicket finally came in the 20th over.
The pre-match nostalgia in India was largely around the Harmanpreet Kaur 2017 World Cup semi-final knock. The game was a reminder of Healy's assault vs India in the 2020 T20 World Cup Final.
*Michael Giacchino's theme score for a certain caped crusader plays with slow-mo shots of her batting gems*
Voice Over: This was the end of an outing. One. But this isn't it. That look as she walked back wasn't anywhere near a satisfactory one. She wants more. More of these outings. She knows she's had an effect. In New Zealand, Australia, and beyond. This isn't fiction. It's a documentary (*music intensifies*).
She's out there. Without a cape fluttering around her neck. She doesn't need one. For with that helmet, them pads and that bat, she is something more. There are games to follow. South Africa, Bangladesh, a semi-final, most likely a final, and beyond. There'll be fist pumps and smiles to follow. And when that happens, it won't be just a sign. It'll be a warning. The bowlers better be ready because she is. She is the... (*score concludes with the title appearing*)