The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag 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 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries 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 fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
