Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive centuries to steer her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to dash to their goal of 199 in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of the day's run-chase as the duo put on 202 came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest performance in the field under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping 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 luckily delivered,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was key to making sure the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced skipper sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls shortly after her partner reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding display, the captain spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was still the team's most expensive bowler, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t missed one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to 13.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 balls took Bangladesh to their record score against the Aussies, but the target 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’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
