The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
