Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 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 Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice 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 going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
