Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular 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 succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
