Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple 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 fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing 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 reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 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 thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
