Holkar Cricket Stadium: Australia leg-spinner Alana King was delighted to extract some spin from the pitch after delivering a sensational spell of 7 for 18 to dismantle South Africa for 97 all out in the Women’s World Cup clash at Holkar Cricket Stadium here on Saturday. She became the first woman cricketer to claim a seven-wicket haul in the 50-over quadrennial tournament.
Reflecting on her performance and the conditions that allowed her to thrive, Alana said, “It’s a good feeling (to take 7 wickets), no doubt. But I love trying to put Australia into a good position, and to bowl a quality side like South Africa out under 100 is something we’re pretty comfortable with. We’ve played here a few games now. I did extract a bit of spin in the first game, and then even against England a couple of days ago. So we knew there was going to be a little bit of spin - it could hold a little, but when you play on a new pitch, you’ve got to assess conditions as soon as you can. I thought with the little bit of drizzle it might have slid on, but I still managed to extract some spin, so I’m pretty pleased with that.”
Of her seven wickets, four were clean bowled - a testament to the precision and quality of her bowling as Australia head into the knockout stages.
