The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls 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 chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
