Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
