Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her similarly impressive 142 that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in 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 behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth 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 World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
