🔗 Share this article

The Australian skipper has delivered superb consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.

“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.

Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.

“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.

It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.

But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.

Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place

Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.

The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.

The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century

Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.

Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.

The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Excel as King Stars

Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped 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 tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.

A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”