The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals 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 equally stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team 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 India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
