Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
