Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“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 two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
