Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
