The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
