The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
