The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed 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 rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
