Women’s T20 World Cup: Australia expect Alyssa Healy to be fit for semi-final clash

Cape Town [South Africa], February 19 (ANI): Australia are confident that vice-captain Alyssa Healy will be fit to return for Thursday’s cut-throat semi-final at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

Healy missed Australia’s decisive six-wicket victory over South Africa on Saturday in Gqeberha due to a quad injury, however team management described it as merely minor. The experienced wicket-keeper batter only just recovered from a calf injury prior to the tournament and the decision to rest her for the match against the Proteas was pure to provide her with some extra rest, according to star all-rounder Tahlia McGrath.

“It was more of a precautionary measure with coming off a serious calf injury and with a pretty hectic schedule. We expect her to be fully fit and ready to go for us in the semi-finals,” ICC quoted Tahlia McGrath as saying.

When Healy was injured, McGrath stepped up with the bat against South Africa, scoring a crucial 57 to put her team within striking distance of victory.

The 27-year-old McGrath was relieved to find some excellent form during the crucial part of the tournament because it was her first notable inning at the competition thus far.

“It’s a big relief. I haven’t been batting overly well and I’ve lacked some time in the middle, so I was a bit nervous to start off with. It’s been nice watching the batters at the top order do their thing, but yeah, also nice to get an opportunity tonight,” McGrath said.

Just who Australia face in their semi-final remains to be seen, with India their most likely opponent following their loss to England on Saturday.
Australia now know their semi-final will be held in Cape Town, a venue they have yet to play at during their four-match unbeaten run at the T20 World Cup.

Young all-rounder Annabel Sutherland filled in admirably for Healy against South Africa and McGrath believes the depth of the Australia squad is one of their many strengths.

“We’ve got such a strong squad here and we’re playing some really good cricket, but four wins mean nothing when you get to knockout finals, so we’re going to have to be at our best and there are some quality teams in the competition,” McGrath noted.

“That’s absolutely our biggest strength, that we’ve got so many options. So many players can play different roles and it seems to be someone different sticks their hand up every time. We’re all in really good form at the moment with the bat, with the ball, we’ve got a really strong squad over here, so we go into those semi-finals full of confidence,” said the Australia all-rounder.