The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances 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 luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
