The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
