Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy finished not out on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to race to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper 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 batting, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy dropped the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official rejected their appeal.
The recalled Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took the team to their record score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face the English team and the Proteas.”
