The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
