The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy 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 subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
