Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, 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 spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
