Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial 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 fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
