The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's poorest 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 an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
