The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 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,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
