The Australian skipper has delivered 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 Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash 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.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
