The Australian skipper has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
