Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches 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 succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana 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.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
