The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches 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 luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 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 the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
