Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
