Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches 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 got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, 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 reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team 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 said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, 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 highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“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 going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
