The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six catches 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.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – 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 highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated 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 fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped 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 accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review 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 Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
