Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated 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 experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and the Proteas.”
