Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with her opening partner (84no) to race to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest performance in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for spilling two 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 bat, and luckily succeeded,” she added.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had opted to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she exclaimed.
The experienced 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 confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the innings after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’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 successfully pursued 330 runs against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
