The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
