Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display 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.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
