The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances 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 succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” 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 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally 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 rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
