The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
