The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
