The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
