Alyssa Healy has delivered superb back-to-back hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps the team's shoddiest display in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling a couple of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an ODI against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowler, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
