Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen 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 bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches 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,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
