The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in 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 below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition 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 Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking 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 rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
