The Australian skipper has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
