The Australian skipper has produced superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – 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 first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
