Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
