Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding 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 needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
