Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
