The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
