Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. 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 thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s poorest 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 reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 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 tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
