The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended 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.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
