Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
