The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen 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 batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 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 total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
