The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, 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 claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the 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 fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
