Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) 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 probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first recorded on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to discover that the victory, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner later in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
