The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls 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 half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also 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 still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look 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’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
