Alyssa Healy has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling 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 bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
