Alyssa Healy has produced outstanding back-to-back centuries to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll analyze,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, 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 reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“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 Indore to face England and South Africa.”
