Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 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 King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
