Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“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.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
