The Australian skipper has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
