The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding 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 bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display 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 review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
