The Australian skipper has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn 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 great news,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
