The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie 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 was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
