Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive centuries to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring 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 maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to discover 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 fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest 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 Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
