The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“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 win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
