Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
