Healy Blasts a Second Ton to Power the Australian Team into World Cup Knockout Stage
The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”