The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
