The Australian skipper has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide 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 remained not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
