The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough 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 shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
