The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, 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 performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended 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.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
