The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly the team's shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side 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 Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
