The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side 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,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
