🔗 Share this article

The Australian skipper has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.

“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.

Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.

“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.

From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's poorest 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 reflect on,” Healy said.

It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.

The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place

Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.

The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.

The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century

Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly 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.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.

The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars

In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.

Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days before.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”