Alyssa Healy has executed superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 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 competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh 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 Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished 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 practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
