The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team'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 an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten 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 fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few 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. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
