The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 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 below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped 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 a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
