Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the identical Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s poorest display in the field under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in especial for spilling a couple of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and ended 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 boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Impresses with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their appeal.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spin bowlers Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” remarked star performer Alana King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
