Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” 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 Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said 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.”
