The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial 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 batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
