Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
