Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive victory over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping 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 fortunately got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped 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 accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
