The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping 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 batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest 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 chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
