The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
