Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final 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 wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
