Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash 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 win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's weakest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 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 straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
