The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe 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.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary 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 first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
