A “disappointed” Alyssa Healy has confessed Australia “let themselves down” in all three facets of the game during Thursday’s World Cup semi-final against India, branding the team’s performance as “un-Australian”.

India ended Australia’s 15-match World Cup winning streak after chasing a record 339-run target with nine balls to spare at DY Patil Stadium, with Jemimah Rodrigues hitting a career-best 127 not out.

It marks the first time Australia’s women’s team has not had either World Cup trophy since 2017.

“Ultimately, we just weren’t sharp enough today in all three facets to allow ourselves to win that semi-final,” a dejected Healy confessed during the post-match press conference.

“Not taking anything away from the Indian performance, (but) there’s an element of we let ourselves down a little bit.”

Australia put down multiple chances during the chase, most notably Healy’s horror dropped catch when Rodrigues was on 82.

“I just think we dished up a little bit too much junk to hit those times, and also just didn’t capitalise on the opportunities that we did create,” Healy continued.

“It feels a little bit un-Australian to not be as clinical as we normally are, and knowing how well we’ve played this World Cup.”
Australia, unbeaten during the group stage, dug themselves out of tricky situations on multiple occasions throughout the tournament — after collapsing to 7-76 against Pakistan in Colombo, the defending champions chased a 331-run target against India in Visakhapatnam, at the time's record in women’s ODIs.

“I think we’re playing some unbelievable cricket, and that’s why it doesn’t quite feel right sitting here at the losing end, not getting to Sunday’s fixture,” Healy said.

“I thought we played really well throughout this World Cup.”

However, Healy acknowledged how impactful the result will be for women’s cricket in India, with the Asian powerhouse set to face South Africa in Sunday’s final. Neither nation has won a Women’s World Cup title before.

“To see a new winner is going to do wonders for the game,” Healy said.

“To see how well it’s been supported here in India is great. For them to have an opportunity to play in front of home fans for an ODI World Cup final is going to be really special.

“I hope it does a great thing for Indian cricket.

“It’s going to hurt a little bit, but it’s going to be really great to watch.

“Hopefully, we see it do great things for the global game, and more investment in these great nations moving forward.”

Australian coach Shelley Nitschke admitted the result was “disappointing” but clarified there was no need for “panic stations” in the national set-up.

“We’ve been playing some really good cricket, not just this tournament, in the last 12 months,” Nitschke said.

“We’re always going to review and look to get better, and we need to be better in the big moments.

“I still think we’ve got some growth to go, and I’m actually looking forward to where we can go.

“We just weren’t good enough when it counted tonight.”