The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
