Young Australian openers Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield were handed an immediate boost in responsibility and public attention when Alyssa Healy declined one last innings, Sunday at 8: 12 a. m. ET, as Australia stormed to a 10-wicket Test win in Perth that closed the retiring captain’s international career.
Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield inherit the chase and finish it inside five overs
Australia needed just 25 runs to secure the win and the pair of 22-year-olds did not let the opportunity linger: Georgia Voll finished 16 not out and Phoebe Litchfield 11 not out as the chase took only 4. 3 overs to complete. Voll overturned an early lbw decision to survive her start, and Litchfield was dropped on nine before the duo polished off the required runs.
Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King tear through India’s tail at the WACA Ground
Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King each took two wickets to wrap up India’s second innings for 149 in a little over an hour, leaving Australia needing only 25 runs to win. Debutant Pratika Rawal offered stubborn resistance with a 137-ball 63 before becoming the final wicket to fall, and Australia’s spinners finished the task inside the morning session.
Annabel Sutherland’s all-round returns and Australia clinch the multi-format series
Annabel Sutherland’s match contributions underpinned the hosts’ dominance: she scored 129 in Australia’s first innings and returned bowling figures of 4-46 and 2-15 across the fixtures, and she is set to be named player of the match. The result also sealed the overall multi-format series, Australia finishing as winners 12 points to four after reversing a 2-4 deficit that followed the T20I leg.
Still, the personal farewell for Alyssa Healy was spare rather than theatrical. Healy made 13 in Australia’s first innings while batting at No. 4 and chose not to promote herself to open for the brief chase; she stayed out of sight in the dressing room during the run chase, later emerging to shake hands with the India players and to be chaired off the field by Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner.
Yet, the match also brought individual moments that shaped the finish: Sneh Rana was the first to fall in India’s second innings when she was bowled by Gardner, and Healy took a sharp slip catch to send Kashvee Gautam back for a duck off King’s bowling. From that tightening squeeze, Annabel Sutherland completed the final rout by taking a diving catch to dismiss Pratika Rawal.
If Annabel Sutherland is officially named player of the match, that award will cement her central role in a series that ended as a fitting farewell to Alyssa Healy.
