The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest 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 something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, 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 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
