Georgia Voll has never tried to pretend she is Alyssa Healy. Even so, the 22-year-old opener knows the comparison is unavoidable now she is walking out first for Australia. On Thursday night in Canberra she produced her most convincing reply yet, thumping 88 from 57 balls and setting up a 19-run win over India that pulls the three-match T20I series level at 1-1.
Australia reached 163 for 5 on a Manuka Oval surface that rewarded timing rather than brute force. Voll and Beth Mooney put on 110 in 12.4 overs, the sort of base Healy used to provide almost by default. Mooney’s calm presence allowed Voll to keep attacking, although Voll admitted later she occasionally needed a reminder to breathe.
“She’s the calm head. When I’m chunking the ball down the leg-side, she comes down and lets me know that it’s all right. It turns your headspace,” Voll said. Earlier she had acknowledged the size of the shoes she is trying to fill. “It’s a massive role at the top, to try and fill Midge’s shoes. She’s someone who’s been incredible for such a long period of time. Being a fan of the game and watching her over a long time, and to be able to put my own little spin on it as well has been super fun.”
India never looked entirely out of the chase but never quite ahead of it either. A brisk 36 from Jemimah Rodrigues gave them early momentum before Ashleigh Gardner’s off-spin removed her and the innings lost rhythm. Annabel Sutherland mixed slower balls with the odd yorker, while Kim Garth hit the seam and the block-hole. Between them the trio conceded only 67 from 12 overs and shared five wickets. India closed on 144 for 9.
For Australia the win meant a little more than simply squaring a bilateral series. Their previous outing, a four-wicket defeat in Sydney, had poked at a few nerves less than five months out from the T20 World Cup in England. “We’ve been a part of playing franchise cricket for the last few months,” Voll noted, hinting at the need to reconnect in national colours. “It was nice to get out there tonight and show what we’re capable of as a group again. I’m sure that I’ll take a lot of confidence going into Adelaide.”
Saturday’s finale at the Adelaide Oval precedes four further T20Is before the squad heads to England in June. VolI is unlikely to keep scoring at Healy pace every night, but the early signs are she can offer her own flavour at the top—aggressive, yes, but with just enough composure to build an innings rather than simply detonate it.
Mooney, who finished unbeaten on 47, has watched Voll’s evolution from close range. “There’s a reason why she’s one of the best batters in the world … it’s great to have her experience up the other end,” Voll said of her partner. The compliments flowed both ways in the dressing-room, and the broader message appeared to be that Australia are again finding familiar balance: hard-nosed bowling, tidy fielding and an opener capable of taking the game away in the powerplay.
An imperfect evening, certainly—two catches went down and the death bowling still looks a work in progress—but the gap left by Healy suddenly feels a touch smaller.
