Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side 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 Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
