The Australian skipper has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) 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 little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’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 wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
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 a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed 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’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
