Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to discover 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 fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
