The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive centuries to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow 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, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
