The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics 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 little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
