Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
It helped the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”