🔗 Share this article

The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.

“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s weakest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.

“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.

Since data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.

“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.

It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.

But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.

Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place

Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.

The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.

The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as King Leads

Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.

Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.

Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.

“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”