Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances 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 luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden 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 Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
