Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team 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 target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches marked the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished 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 shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
