Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team 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 experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
