Alyssa Healy has produced superb consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive trouncing over their opponents.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best 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.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly Australia’s poorest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the batting, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever 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 spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown sent down the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Stars
Instead, the spinners thrived, led by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face the English team and South Africa.”
