Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to chase to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked 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 said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
