The Australian skipper has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, 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 glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
