Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great 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 anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
