The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, 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 great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side 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 Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
