The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
