The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s worst 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 something we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive 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 slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward 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 World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
