Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances 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,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side 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 great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
