Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple 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 fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
