The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
