The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, 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 experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours 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 half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
