The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase 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 chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 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 a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
