Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table 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 hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
