The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’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 an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
