The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, 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 slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
