Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive trouncing over Bangladesh.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) 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 accept the two points and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's chase as the pair added 202 followed perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping a couple of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately got the job done,” she added.
From the time statistics was first taken on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” Healy commented.
It helped Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took 2-18 with four maiden overs, was crucial to making sure Australia’s target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Victory that Seals Semi-Final Spot
The Australian skipper was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The experienced captain sped to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest century of the tournament, and ended with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
Left-hander Litchfield hit 12 fours and a six, getting to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Aussie pair at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but failed to review when the umpire turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Excel as King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s not out 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Australians, but the target was made to look easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” said star performer King. “Certainly it won't end here. We look forward to going back to the next venue to take on the English team and the Proteas.”
