The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat 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’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
