The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target 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 take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’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 two of the six 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 batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls 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 fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
