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How to halt Healy top of England agenda

Alyssa Healy's runaway form at the top of the Australia order leaves England with a headache for the World T20 final

Finding a way to stop a rampant Alyssa Healy will be top of England's priority list heading into the World T20 final in Antigua on Sunday (11am AEDT, broadcast on Fox Cricket and 9GEM).

Wicketkeeper-batter Healy has been the form batter of the tournament to date, with scores of 48, 53, 56no and 46 from her four innings – having not batted in the pool game against India due to concussion – and sits stop the run scorers list with 203 runs at 67.66.

Australia storm into WT20 final

The mild concussion she suffered after a collision with teammate Megan Schutt in the final pool game against India has done nothing to impact her form either, with the opener top-scoring for Australia with 46 in their semi-final win over the West Indies – claiming her fourth player of the match award for the tournament in the process.

"She's played really well," England captain Heather Knight said on the eve of the final.

"She's probably been the one batter that's been consistent throughout the tournament.

Image Id: https://www.cricket.com.au/~/media/7A7FCAE31FE04166A6B85F06BB02A534 Image Caption: Healy hits out on her way to 46 // Cricket Network

"Of course, we'll look at her. We'll look at all of their players.

"They've got a very strong batting line-up, a very deep batting line-up.

"We're going to have to have clear plans in place to obviously reflect the conditions that we're going to face as well."

Healy has been easily the best of the Australian batters and while others have made contributions, no other player has passed fifty in the five matches to date.

Their second-highest scorer has been fellow opener Beth Mooney, who has scored 113 runs at 22.60, but there have been pleasing signs from the middle-order with Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry both making valuable contributions.

Image Id: https://www.cricket.com.au/~/media/C56C07372ADC46B1B5BBCA7FC99846B4 Image Caption: Healy wore her glasses in a match for the first time // Cricket Network

But Australia captain Meg Lanning isn't concerned that her team will be too reliant on the 28-year-old making runs in the final.

"No, not at all," Lanning said from Antigua on Friday. "Alyssa's been in great form throughout and is really enjoying her cricket. But I don't think we're relying on her.

"She's just taking her opportunity and running with it. I've got no doubt that, if someone else gets the opportunity tomorrow, that they'll be able to do it just as well.

"We've got great batting depth within our side. We've got Ellyse Perry at seven and Rachael Haynes at six, who have only been facing a couple of balls here and there.

"That's one of our strengths (and) we want to use it as much as we can. If it's not Alyssa's day, I'm sure someone else will step up."

Lanning has yet to hit her usual heights in this tournament, with scores of 41, 4 and 10 in the group matches.

She was made to work hard for her 31 from 39 in the semi-final against West Indies but fought through a difficult period to anchor her team's innings and shared a key partnership with Healy.

"I didn't feel great batting out there in the middle, sort of scratching around a little bit," Lanning admitted

(But) I feel like I'm hitting the ball well. It was nice to spend some time out in the middle, I guess, yesterday. But I'm looking to improve on that tomorrow."

Australia will also spend plenty of time looking identifying England's main threats before Saturday's final.

England pace bowlers Anya Shrubsole and Natalie Sciver have been dangerous throughout the tournament and their battle with Healy during the powerplay looms as one of the most intriguing of the final.

Newly signed Perth Scorchers import Amy Jones looms as another danger player for England, with the wicketkeeper-batter stepping up admirably in the absence of star 'keeper Sarah Taylor.

"It's difficult to narrow it down to a couple," Lanning said of England's threats. "Jones and Sciver were great for them last night with the bat, and they're very dangerous.

"And Shrubsole's been very good for them with the ball.

"You don't get to a World Cup final without everyone contributing at different times, so we're not focusing on one or two.

"We know they're a really good unit, so we're going to have to make sure we're playing well and that we start off the game really well as well."

Australia will meet England in the World T20 final at Antigua's Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Saturday from 8pm local time (11am Sunday AEDT), with the match to be broadcast live on Fox Cricket and the Nine Network.

2018 ICC Women's World T20  

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

November 9: Australia beat Pakistan by 52 runs

November 11: Australia beat Ireland by nine wickets

November 13: Australia beat New Zealand by 33 runs

November 17: Australia lost to India by 48 runs

November 22: Semi-final: Australia beat West Indies by 71 runs

November 24: Final: Australia v England, Sir Vivian Richards Ground