The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries 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.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
