Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls 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.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other 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 leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
