The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive centuries to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) 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 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four 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. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
