The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked 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 little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced 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 pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
