The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
