The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt 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 win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie 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 tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
