The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
