The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup 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 Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
