The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield 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
The young batter Phoebe 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 Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score 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 before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
