Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
