The Australian skipper has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, 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 pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “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 ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
