Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented 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 something we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult 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 appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
