The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling 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 batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 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 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
