The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple 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 delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
