The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
