Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
