Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
