Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding showing 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 analyze,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 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 wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
