Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
