Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased 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 place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced 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 Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
