Captain Alyssa Healy signed off from One-Day Internationals with a blazing 158 as Australia thrashed India by 185 runs in the third and final ODI to complete a 3-0 whitewash here on Sunday.
In what turned out to be a fairytale farewell in the 50-over format, the 35-year-old led from the front, powering Australia to a formidable 409 for seven after being put in to bat. India, chasing a daunting 410, were bowled out for 224 in 45.1 overs.
Healy will retire from international cricket after featuring in the one-off pink-ball Test in Perth against India from March 6.
Playing her 126th ODI, Healy crafted her eighth century in the format with authority, striking 27 fours and two sixes in a 98-ball innings. She finishes her ODI career with 3,777 runs, including eight hundreds and 19 half-centuries.
Australia were jolted early with the loss of Phoebe Litchfield for 14, but Healy found steady support in Georgia Voll. The pair added 134 runs for the second wicket to steady the innings and lay a solid platform.
Voll made a brisk 62 off 52 balls, hitting seven fours and a six, before departing. Healy then stitched together a 145-run stand with Beth Mooney, who remained unbeaten on 106.
Mooney’s century, studded with 10 boundaries and a six, ensured Australia maintained the momentum even as Healy continued her assault. The captain’s strokeplay was fluent and commanding, finding gaps at will and punishing anything loose.
Late cameos from Annabel Sutherland (23) and Nicola Carey (34 off 15) pushed the total past the 400-mark, leaving India with a mountain to climb.
For India, Sneh Rana returned figures of 2 for 66, while Shree Charani conceded 106 runs, becoming only the third bowler to leak over 100 runs in a women’s ODI.
Also read: Australia thrash India by 5 wickets, clinch series
India’s chase never truly gathered pace. Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana fell in the second over, dealing an early blow. Pratika Rawal (27 off 21) and Jemimah Rodrigues offered brief resistance, adding 54 runs for the second wicket.
Rodrigues, fluent in her 42 off 29 balls with nine boundaries, looked set before holing out at short fine-leg. Once Rawal was trapped in front in the eighth over, the innings unravelled.
Harleen Deol made 14, while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur could muster only 25 off 33 balls before being dismissed leg-before by Alana King. Richa Ghosh and Kashvee Gautam also failed to make meaningful contributions as the required rate spiralled out of reach.
Deepti Sharma (29 off 47) and Sneh Rana shared a 63-run stand for the eighth wicket, briefly delaying the inevitable. Rana, who had earlier impressed with the ball, top-scored with 44 off 74 balls in a fighting effort. But the gap proved too wide, and India were eventually bundled out.
India had lost the first two ODIs by six and five wickets respectively, surrendering the three-match series 0-3. The visitors, however, had claimed the preceding T20 series 2-1.
Australia now lead the multi-format series 8-4 on points. The trophy will be decided on a points system, with two points awarded for each T20 and ODI win, and four for a Test victory.
For Healy, though, the afternoon belonged entirely to her — a commanding farewell that ensured her ODI career ended not quietly, but emphatically.
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