The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished 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 practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
