Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113, coming just four days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their target of 199 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 tonight, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after possibly Australia’s weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” she added.
Since statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed opportunities marked Australia’s poorest fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed 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 maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken 10-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, reaching to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was still the Aussies’ costliest bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by King, whose spell could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
