The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
