Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, 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 fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
