Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score 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 spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
