The Australian skipper has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total 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 ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
