🔗 Share this article

The Australian skipper has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.

Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.

Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that went down.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.

Since data was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.

“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.

This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot

Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.

The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century

The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.

In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.

The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spinners Thrive as King Leads

In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.

Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.

Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.

“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”