Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling 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 bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”