The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended 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 shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty 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 display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
