Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly the team's shoddiest 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 were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted 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 Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
