The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup 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 record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
