The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”