The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving 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 saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
