The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
