The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great 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 look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
