The Australian skipper has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures 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 World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
