The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
