The Australian skipper has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
