Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
