Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
