The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial 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 luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
