Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
