The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
