Australia have all but cemented their place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals yet their nine-wicket cakewalk against Pakistan has come at a cost with major injury concerns over their captain, Alyssa Healy, and luckless bowler Tayla Vlaeminck.
Healy limped out with a calf problem, stricken when taking a swift second run while leading her side during what had appeared a trouble free chase after they had skittled Pakistan for just 82 in Dubai on Friday.
After she had retired hurt on 37, Ellyse Perry (22no) then guided the champions to the easiest of victories in just 11 overs as they moved unbeaten on to six points, with a place in the last four practically assured.
Yet, while there was concern over the captain’s fitness, there was also huge sadness in the camp for injury plagued Vlaeminck, who dislocated her right shoulder while fielding in the first over of the match.
“We’ll assess the damage. Heartbroken for those two girls at the moment, but we’ll find out more in the coming days,” said Tahlia McGrath, the vice-captain.
Vlaeminck, perhaps the fastest bowler in the world, had been given a chance to shine in her first match of the tournament but never got the opportunity, with her accident coming just four balls into the match. Chasing the ball to the third-man boundary with full commitment, the 25-year-old jagged her left knee into the turf while trying to prevent the four and tumbled over on to her shoulder.
It was the latest setback to bedevil Vlaeminck, who had been looking forward to displaying her pace injury-free at a global championship after years of problems and surgeries on her foot, knee and left shoulder.
After she had to be helped from the field, Vlaeminck did have her shoulder relocated by medics, who said the extent of the injury would be known after further assessment.
The early shock did not stop the Australian march as Healy gathered the team around to rally them, and they did not miss Vlaeminck’s pace as their abundant bowling riches enabled them to skittle Pakistan for the lowest score of the tournament to date.
It was another landmark day for Megan Schutt (one for seven off three overs), who had already become the T20 World Cup’s top wicket-taker in the previous match, as she became the all-time leading wicket-taker in all T20 internationals.
The 31-year-old had Sadaf Shamas caught behind sharply by Healy for her 144th scalp in the short-format game, taking Schutt past Pakistan’s own Nidar Dar, who went wicketless as Australia chased down the target.
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Ash Gardner was player of the match for her four for 21, featuring three wickets in the penultimate over of the innings, while there were two wickets apiece for medium pacer Annabel Sutherland and spinner Georgia Wareham as the Australians were suffocatingly accurate throughout the innings.
In reply, Healy, who had also been in fine form behind the stumps with a catch and two smart stumpings, went past 1,000 World T20 runs and looked in good nick as she hammered five boundaries – one more than the entire Pakistan team managed between them – in the 23 balls she faced before her cruel mishap.
Beth Mooney’s was the only wicket to fall after she had made a run-a-ball 15 and Perry guided them home to a 14th successive T20 World Cup victory against a Pakistan side already dispirited by the absence of their captain, Fatima Sana, who had flown home after the death of her father.
Mathematically, there is still the slimmest possibility Australia could be edged out of a semi-final spot, but India would have to beat them by a huge margin on Sunday and New Zealand win their two matches emphatically for that to occur.