The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 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 maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
