The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest 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.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to 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 the Proteas.”
