Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered 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,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
