The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“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,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
