The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
