Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs 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,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
