The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
