The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
