Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
