Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling 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 fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow 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 competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
