The Australian skipper has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest 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 review,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
