Healy Blasts a Second Hundred to Propel the Australian Team into Cricket World Cup Knockout Stage
The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive centuries to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 followed possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
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 a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. 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 dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”