The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive centuries to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
