The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered 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’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
