Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy 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 Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
