Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest 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 analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
