The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
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 abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
