Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive hundreds to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, 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. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
