The Australian skipper has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat 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’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
