The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team 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,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
