The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“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 won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
