Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six 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,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
