Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” 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.”
