The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. 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 dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
