The Australian skipper has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
