Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding back-to-back hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket win over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought 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.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 followed possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities represented the team's poorest fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield later in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, Healy spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
