Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par 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 supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total 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 the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
