Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, 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 reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced 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 pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic 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 anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
