The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular 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 batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries 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.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
