The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six 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 succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase 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 manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-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 wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts 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 fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable 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 umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana 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 overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
