The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
