Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
