The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
