The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented 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 little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
