Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, 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 even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
