The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities 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 something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished 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 almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total 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 global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
