The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, 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 shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
