The Australian skipper has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving 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 unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
