The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“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 Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
