Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
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 tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score 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 a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
