Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand 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 behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened 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 another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
