Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive centuries to guide her squad into the last four 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 similarly stellar 142-run knock that saw off hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the pair added 202 followed possibly the team's poorest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for spilling a couple of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches marked the team's poorest fielding display 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 analyze,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter scoring the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to making sure Australia’s chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the victory, which places her undefeated team at the 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 said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking 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 Aussies, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We look forward to returning to Indore to face England and South Africa.”
