The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling 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 got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display 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 reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“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 take on England and the Proteas.”
