Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“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 expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the 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 fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. 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 dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
