The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team 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 vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century 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.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
