The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target 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’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
