Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back 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 not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, 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 especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
