The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest 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 review,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, 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 overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
