Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings 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 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 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, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
