The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
