Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated 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 Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers 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 Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
