The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, 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 quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated 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 Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
