Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table 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 experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
