Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back centuries to guide her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a below par with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling 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 delivered,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
Healy was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her unbeaten team at the top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to grasp a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
