The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
