The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed catches represented 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 little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs 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. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
