Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 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.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts 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 really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century 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 innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
