Alyssa Healy has executed superb consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a dominant 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, arriving just four days after her equally brilliant 142 that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 deliveries.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six catches 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 luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the first half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to making sure the team's chase remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Win that Confirms Semi-Final Place
Healy was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
The Opener Shines with First Tournament Half-Century
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 fours and one maximum, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best stand by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, the captain spilled the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to grasp a difficult skied one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also take a clean chance off Brown but failed to review when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, led by 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 (two for 48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
