The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
