The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial 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 succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
