The Australian skipper has produced outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel 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 slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
