It’s been a good start to a marathon summer for the Australian women’s cricket team, who will now leave the West Indies after clean-sweeping the three-game ODI series to begin preparations for their home tour against Sri Lanka.
The Aussie women were dominant in all three fixtures and there were some pretty significant milestones reached and records broken.
So for those of you who haven’t kept up with the action, here’s what you’ve missed over the last week.
First ODI: Australia won by 178 runs
This was a dominant victory, largely due to the heroics of Alyssa Healy (122) and Meg Lanning (121).
These women pushed Australia to a total of 4-308 from their 50 overs, which is the highest women’s ODI total ever scored in the West Indies and the Aussies’ fifth highest ODI score ever.
Both women achieved centuries, but their massive stand of 225 for the second wicket was Australia’s second highest partnership for any wicket in women’s ODIs. This was also just the fifth time two Aussie women have scored two hundreds in the same ODI (the last occasion being in India in 2008 when Karen Rolton and Alex Blackwell managed to do so).
Lanning may only be 27, but she is already a record-holder. She has more ODI centuries than any other women and the ton she scored in this game saw her become the fastest player to reach 13 ODI centuries.
Lanning has done so in 76 innings, eclipsing the previous record of 83 which was held by Hashim Amla.
(Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)
This game was also Australia’s 13th consecutive ODI win and saw Australia back to the top of the ICC Women’s Championship, jumping England.
Second ODI: Australia won by 151 runs
There was a last-minute change in this game, with Lanning being ruled out moments before the coin toss because of back spasms.
In came vice-captain Rachael Haynes to take her place and this also gave an opportunity to Erin Burns, who was given ODI cap No.141 from her Sydney Sixers team-mate Ellyse Perry.
The stand-out in this game was Perry, who remained unbeaten on 112 from 118 deliveries, before picking up the wicket of West Indies opener Stacy-Ann King in her second over.
Ashleigh Gardner also impressed, scoring the equal fastest ODI 50 by an Aussie woman. She scored her half-century in 23 deliveries, equalling the record set by Lanning seven years ago. She ended her innings not out on 57 runs from 25 balls, with six fours and three sixes.
By the conclusion of this game, Australia had scored more than 300 runs in four out of eight innings. It demonstrates the firepower in this squad given that before March last year, the last time the Aussie women had passed 300 in an ODI was in 2012.
Third ODI: Australia won by eight wickets
This time it was bowling on show, with Megan Schutt becoming the first Australian woman to take a hat trick, doing so in the final over of the West Indies innings.
Her first victim was Chinelle Henry for 39, followed by Karishma Ramharack then Afy Fletcher. She finished on figures of 3-24 from ten overs including two maidens.
For Schutt, this also made her the first woman to take two hat tricks in international cricket. It was just the 11th hat trick taken in women’s ODIs, and Schutt became just the seventh Aussie to get a hat trick in a one-dayer.
When she takes hat tricks like that, it comes as no surprise that Schutt is the top-ranked bowler in the world in ODIs and T20Is.
Ellyse Perry also took four wickets and became just the second woman to take 150 ODI wickets.
Meg Lanning also scored a half-century – her 13th in the ODI format – and her 47th run took her to 6222 across all international formats. This makes Lanning Australia’s greatest female run-scorer, eclipsing the former record held by Karen Rolton.
With this victory Australia now have a 15-match ODI winning streak and this was the fifth straight series where the Aussie women have remained undefeated.
Next stop for the Aussie women is a home tour against Sri Lanka before the WBBL commences in mid-October.
A ruthless Australian women's cricket team has shown little mercy to Bangladesh, thumping the hosts by eight wickets to clean sweep their ODI series.…
Australia's new golden girl Annabel Sutherland has stepped in to rescue Australia in Dhaka, leading the tourists to a 118-run win over Bangladesh. After…
Australia have sealed victory in the best-of-three one-day international series against South Africa, avenging their upset loss in match two with a rain-affected 110-run…
Alyssa Healy has rejected any suggestion Australia's stranglehold on international women's cricket is slipping, saying their Test loss to India is barely a blip…
Australia's women have sunk to their first Test defeat to India, beaten by eight wickets on the last day of their one-off match in…
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur's golden arm has her nation well placed to notch a first-ever win over Australia at stumps on day three of…
