The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
