Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash 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 accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches 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 something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
