The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs 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 chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
