The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
