The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's weakest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding display 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 review,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 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 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
