The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, 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 did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
