Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive centuries to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper 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 needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches 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 little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
