Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented 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 little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
