The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated 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 captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner 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 sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“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 going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
