The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
