Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
