The Australian skipper has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances 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,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
