The Australian skipper has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
