Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84no) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel 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 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
