The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple 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 batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
