Alyssa Healy has produced superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
