The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen 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 an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted 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 First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
