The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest 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 almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest 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.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
