The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen 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 luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century 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.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
