Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field 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 had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition 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 fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
