Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs 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 accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
