The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
