Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest 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 Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
