Healy Blasts a Second Hundred to Power the Australian Team into World Cup Knockout Stage

The Australian skipper has executed superb consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.

Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same 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 not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.

Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.

“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.

From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.

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

This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.

But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.

The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot

Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.

The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.

The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty

Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.

In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.

The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.

Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars

In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.

Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition'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 easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”

Melanie Woods
Melanie Woods

Lena Voss is a seasoned gambling analyst and writer with over a decade of experience in the online casino industry.