Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly the team's shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team'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 something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten 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 really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
