The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers 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 sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
