Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, 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 glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing 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 reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
