Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
