Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten 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 experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest 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 Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
