The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time 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 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
