The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's 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 Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings 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 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
