The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team 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,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”