The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’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 something we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup 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
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
