Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total 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 unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
