The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped 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 accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
