Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed possibly the team's shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches 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 luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
