Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. 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 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
