The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, 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 almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
