The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 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 chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's great 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 anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
