Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
