The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which places 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 last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
