The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
