The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
