The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
