The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly the team's shoddiest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's worst 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 an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, 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 Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
