The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team'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 something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down 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.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
