Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
