The Australian skipper has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display 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 analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
