The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down 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 Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
