Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
