The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
