The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
