The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) 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 probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
