The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper 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 needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
