Healy Fires a Second Ton to Send the Australian Team into Cricket World Cup Final Four
The Australian skipper has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”