Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 followed possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
