Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
