The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
