Alyssa Healy has delivered brilliant back-to-back centuries to steer her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper 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 came after possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with First World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament half-century off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on the English team and South Africa.”
