The Australian skipper has executed outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 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,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
