Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
