The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“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,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's worst 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 reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
