The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s worst 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 something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
