The Australian skipper has executed outstanding consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 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 thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances 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 fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down 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.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 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 score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”