The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
