Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the 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 fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced 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 hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
