The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side 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 exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 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 King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
