Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
