The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
