Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. 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 sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top 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 Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
