Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
