Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 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 thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding showing 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 reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
