The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly the team's poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two 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 fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few 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 Indore to face England and South Africa.”
