The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
