Healy Blasts Another Hundred to Send the Australian Team into Cricket World Cup Final Four
The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”