Alyssa Healy has delivered superb consecutive centuries to lead her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her similarly brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the victory, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance 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 Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
