The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
