The Australian skipper has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
