Alyssa Healy has executed brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant comprehensive victory over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113 runs, arriving just a few days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a below par behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of the day's run-chase as the pair added 202 came after perhaps the team's weakest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six chances that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was initially recorded on fielding statistics in the year 2013, the half-dozen dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” Healy commented.
It helped the opposition to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was delighted to learn that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's great news,” she said.
The experienced captain raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the tournament, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she confronted as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Shines with Maiden Tournament Fifty
Left-hander Phoebe Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their shout.
The recalled Brown bowled the fastest deliveries at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
In contrast, the slow bowlers excelled, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered easy meat by a side who had successfully pursued 330 against the Indian side four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it won't end here. We anticipate returning to Indore to face England and the Proteas.”
