Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
