The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
