The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
