The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display 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 analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, 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 exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries 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 Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries 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 World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
