Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
