The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
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 Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat 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’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
