The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
