The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches 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 luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table 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 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
