The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted 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 world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
