Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling 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 luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
