Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“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 two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
