Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling 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 fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
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 spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
