The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
