Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated 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 First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, 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.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 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 two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
