The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances 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 statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen 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 while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries 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 Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever 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 great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
