Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away 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
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
