Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a merciless comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) 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 probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s poorest performance in the field under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
Since statistics was initially taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Confirms Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to learn that the triumph, which places her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the last-four. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look straightforward by a team 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 global tournament,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
