Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular 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 bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
