The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches 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 fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
