The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
