Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
