The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper 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, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. 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, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
