Healy blow for Oz, face England in tussle for supremacy

Indore: Defending champions Australia will be forced to reshuffle their combination as they deal with the absence of injured skipper Alyssa Healy when they take on arch-rivals England in a top-of-the-table showdown at the ICC Women’s World Cup here on Wednesday.

Both teams remain unbeaten so far, with four wins and a washout each, but Australia sit comfortably atop the points table owing to a superior net run rate of 1.818 as compared to England’s 1.490.

A victory for either side will offer more than just the bragging rights, it will also provide a crucial psychological edge heading into the knockouts which are just around the corner.

But Australia have been dealt a major blow after Healy sustained a “minor calf strain” during training on Saturday.

Her absence leaves the team grappling with a selection headache, as she performs the triple role of captain, opener, and wicketkeeper.

“We’ve just come across news around Healy so trying to work out what our team looks like. So, sort of we’ll see how training goes today,” head coach Shelley Nitschke said ahead of the game.

Georgia Voll is expected to open alongside Phoebe Litchfield while Beth Mooney will take over the wicket-keeping duties. Barring this setback, Australia have been clinical, if not flawless, through the group stage. They began their campaign with two batting collapses, but rescue acts from Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney steered them past New Zealand and Pakistan.

“The girls have been fantastic at adapting and being able to get ourselves out of some sticky situations and having different players step up and perform has been really critical for us.” England have struggled against swing, something that new-ball specialist Megan Schutt would look to exploit.