The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps 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 run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
