The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed possibly the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana 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 (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team 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 World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
