Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest 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 analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls 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
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
