The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest display 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 went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century 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 later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries 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.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
