The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
