Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced 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 World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
