The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen 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 delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team'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 an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
