Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to ensuring Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
