The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
