The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, 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 spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the 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 really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie 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 Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
