The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
