Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) 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 little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
