The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred 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 shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
