Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the pair put on 202 came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 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 first half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
