The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
