The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice 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 going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
