Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a commanding comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side 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 won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
