The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated 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 dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
