Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding back-to-back hundreds to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I thought I was a below par behind the stumps, and probably a bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time data was first recorded on fielding statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“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,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the competition's top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was made to look straightforward by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face the English team and the Proteas.”
