The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
