Healy's world record knock leads Aussies to sweep

The result: Australia 2-226 (Alyssa Healy 148no, Rachael Haynes 41; Athapaththu 2-27) defeated Sri Lanka 7-94 (Athapathuthu 30, Madavi 28; Carey 3-14) by 132 runs at North Sydney Oval

The match in a tweet: Alyssa Healy stormed into the record-books with an extraordinary 148 to power Australia to a dominant T20 series sweep against Sri Lanka

The hero: What a glorious thing to watch a batter as explosive as Healy, in the form of her life, belt 148 runs from 61 balls to crush the world record for the highest T20I score by a woman. The numbers behind Healy’s knock elevate her into rare, rare company. Raising the bat to celebrate her maiden T20I hundred from just 46 balls, Healy became the fastest Australian – man or woman - to reach the milestone. Healy thumped a whopping 26 boundaries on the way to eclipsing Meg Lanning’s previous record of 133, with the record-breaking runs coming with Lanning herself at the other end.

It was the fourth over when Alyssa Healy really put the foot on the accelerator, scoring three consecutive boundaries to take eighteen runs from that over. From that point on, there was almost no relief for the Sri Lankan bowlers. Healy carved the ball over, around and in between the fielders as the North Sydney Oval crowd watched on in awe. Her half century came from 25 balls, with the century coming just 21 balls later.

The stat: Powered by Healy’s fireworks, Australia romped to their equal highest T20I total ever – matching the 226 runs they put on the board during the Ashes in Chelmsford earlier in the year.

The catch: How about the reflexes on the Wolf! Nilakshi Damanyanthi cleanly struck a flighted delivery from Georgia Wareham straight back to the Aussie bowler, who managed to scoop it up cleanly to pick up the fifth wicket for Australia.

The support act: Nicola Carey, playing in just her third T20I for Australia, struck at the perfect time for Australia. Steaming in to the dangerous Chamari Athapaththu, the placement of Carey’s yorker was flawless as the off-stump rattled in her wake. Carey peppered the stumps to finish her four overs 3-15, off the back of her impressive 1-9 in the second T20I on Monday night.

The consolation efforts: Athapaththu and Harshitha Madavi, requiring a mammoth target of 227 for a win, dug in admirably to put on a 46-run partnership. After Athapaththu’s departure in the 12th over, Madavi continued to challenge the Australian bowlers, but fell victim to Carey for 28 in the 17th over.

The milestone: Playing in her 101th T20I in Australian colours, Alyssa Healy’s world-record breaking knock was, in fact, the first time she had celebrated triple figures in the shortest format of the game. Her previous high score was 90 against India in 2012.

The drop: Vice-captain Rachael Haynes was bumped up the order to No.3 in place of Meg Lanning. Off to a scratchy start, Haynes was lucky to be dropped on 3 in the seventh over – which proved a costly mistake for Sri Lanka. Haynes’ confidence only grew from then, advancing down the ground to whack a four down the ground the very next over, striking three more boundaries before being dismissed for 41.

The toss: In a huge boost for the skipper’s confidence, Meg Lanning won the toss without the help of Alyssa Healy!

The next stop: With a second consecutive T20I bilateral series sweep in the bag, Australia will now turn their attention to the 50-over format with three ODIs against Sri Lanka at Allan Border Field in Brisbane starting on Wednesday.

Australia XI: Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Rachael Haynes, Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Erin Burns, Nicola Carey, Jess Jonassen, Georgia Wareham, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminck

Sri Lanka XI: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Harshitha Madavi, Sashikala Siriwardena, Nilakshi Damayanthi, Oshadhi Ranasinghe, Dilani Manodara, Ama Kanchana, Udeshika Prabodani, Inoshi Fernando, Achini Kulasooriya

CommBank Series v Sri Lanka

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Erin Burns (T20I only), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Heather Graham, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

Sri Lanka T20I squad: Chamari Atapattu (c), Harshitha Madavi, Shashikala Siriwardena, Anushka Sanjeewani, Hansima Karunaratne, Yashoda Mendis, Nilakshi De Silva, Dilani Manodara, Oshadhi Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandhika Kumari, Inoshi Fernando, Achini Kulasooriya, Udeshika Probodhani, Ama Kanchana.

First T20I: Australia won by 41 runs

Second T20I: Australia won by nine wickets

Third T20I: Australia won by 132 runs

First ODI: October 5, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 10.10am

Second ODI:October 7, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 10.10am

Third ODI: October 9, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 10.10am

*All ODIs are ICC Women's Championship matches