Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
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, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
