The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
