Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls 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.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
