The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership 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 edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another'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 successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
