Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
