The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen 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 bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh 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 a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
