Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s shoddiest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially taken on fielding metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches marked Australia’s poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's great 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 returning to the next venue to face England and South Africa.”
