Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie 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 tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
