The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” 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 the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great 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 anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
