"Feeding off the crowd in the final was something different. I enjoyed myself, the atmosphere and we played pretty well"
Sunday 8 March 2020 12:25, UK
Alyssa Healy says she was "not worried one bit" about her lack of form heading into the T20 World Cup after her electric innings in the final helped Australia win the title for a record-extending fifth time.
Opener Healy thumped five sixes and seven fours in her 39-ball 75 in Sunday's final at a packed MCG as the hosts thrashed India by 85 runs.
The 29-year-old scored three fifties in total during the event having come into the competition with a top-score of nine in her previous five T20Is.
"That's the nature of the way I play my game - I go out there and take the game on," said Healy, who reached 50 from 30 balls in the big win over India.
"I was not worried one bit. I just needed a little bit of luck to go my way and I felt that happened in the first game against India [when I scored 51]. I just needed to ride the wave after that.
"Feeding off the crowd in the final was something different. I enjoyed myself, the atmosphere and we played pretty well."
On Australia's victory in front of over 80,000 fans in Melbourne on International Women's Day, Healy added: "It was unbelievable.
"You can't wipe the smile off my face. Even if we had lost I think I still would have been smiling."
Australia captain Meg Lanning, whose side lost to India in the tournament opener before reeling off wins over Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand and then South Africa in a rain-hit semi-final to reach the MCG showpiece, added: "I'm just really proud of this group of players and staff.
"It was tough, especially after we lost that first game. There was a lot of expectation on us from the outside and from the inside as well - we came into this tournament to win, there's no doubt about that.
"We've had everything thrown at us throughout this tournament. We've had ups and downs and we've scraped through the semi-finals. There were some tough times but we've had each other's back the whole time.
"To put in our best performance out on the park on the biggest day of our careers is certainly something I'm very proud of.
"As soon as there were 90,000 people expected at the [MCG], we wanted to be there and just to get here was a significant achievement."
Beth Mooney, who shared a 115-run stand with Healy in the final and ended the tournament as leading run-scorer, added: "We've got a pretty elite line-up so you know if it's not your day then someone else will do it.
"[Healy] makes my life pretty easy up at the top by hitting as cleanly as she does. I don't have to do a whole lot at the other end!
"We knew what went wrong in that first game against India - we had some good plans and processes that we probably didn't execute.
"So to come out tonight and for everyone to contribute the way they did with bat and ball and in the field was pretty outstanding. To have the support of 87,000 people behind us is pretty outrageous, too."
