The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
