Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
