Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 followed perhaps the team's poorest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping 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 batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches 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 analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
